Teaching the Teacher

Japan's genius for adapting foreign techniques is legendary, and the career of Tsuneo Inui, 64, illustrates why. Sent to New York City by a Tokyo bank in the 1950s, Inui studied the leasing boom then taking off in the U.S., and in 1964 paid $40,000 for advice and guidance from United States Leasing Corp. With that, and with loans from American banks (Japanese banks then saw no future in leasing), he opened Orient Leasing Co. in Japan. The dry-witted Inui proved such an apt seito (pupil) that last year Orient became the biggest leasing company in the world, posting profits of $10.4 million, compared with $6.7 million earned by his old sensei (teacher), U.S.L.

Inui, a lover of tradition (he plays the classical three-string samisen), did his utmost to "Japanize" what he had learned. In particular, he worked through the sprawling sales networks of the great Japanese trading houses to lease to manufacturers, shippers and retailers, products as varied as Pepsi bottles, tankers and computers. Now Inui is trying to repay some of his debt of gratitude to U.S.L., of which he became a director in 1973. Next month Orient will open an office in Manhattan to help U.S.L. lease products to other Japanese firms operating in the U.S. --for a fee, of course.

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