Her Master's Voice: Carlos Ghosn's Japanese Alter Ego

Bertel Schmitt
by Bertel Schmitt

“I am following him everywhere, except into the rest room.” For nearly twelve years, interpreter Yuki Morimoto has been Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn’s adapter to the Japanese world. The lady is a miracle. She simultaneously translates Ghosn’s high-speed stream of wit and Gallic sarcasm into Japanese, and translates Japanese back into perfect English. Morimoto is so in tune with Ghosn that she sometimes finishes his sentences before him – in Japanese.

Morimoto-san is proud of conveying precisely how her boss feels. She does not pretty up what people say, she translates it as it comes.

In a land where the waving of arms makes you suspect of suffering from epilepsy, Morimoto has adopted Ghosn’s trademark body language that underscores words with gesticulations. She transposes Ghosn’s undulating emotions into wave after wave of likewise emotional Japanese, and when the boss gets loud, Morimoto is known to crank up her voice.

If Ghosn is displeased with you in Yokohama, you will hear it. If you don’t speak English, you will hear it again from Morimoto. Amongst the executive crew at Nissan’s headquarter in Yokohama, the saying goes that “when the CEO yells at you, you get yelled at twice.”

For more than a year, I had been bugging the troops and generals in Yokohama to let me do a story about Morimoto, who I had been surreptitiously recording anyway. When I suggested it, a lot of sucking air through the teeth ensued, I was told that it would be, you know, muzukashii, or difficult, because she’s shy in real life, and, sumimasen, the CEO’s personal translator, wakarimasu ka? I kept suggesting it, they kept sucking air.

Today, to my thorough dismay, I find this seven minute feature-length movie about the (shy my eye) translator on YouTube. Produced by Nissan’s global newsroom, it confirmed my worst fears: Those guys are here to put us all out of business. After more than a year of tut-tutting and sucking air, they wait until I’m out of the country, and steal my idea. Wait until I’m back in Tokyo, Dan Sloan.

Dan hasn’t put us out of business just yet.

In the week since the Morimoto video was up on YouTube, it attracted a shocking 419 views. If you see more than 419, then these are all ours, adding clicks to injury.

Bertel Schmitt
Bertel Schmitt

Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.

More by Bertel Schmitt

Comments
Join the conversation
4 of 29 comments
  • Thomas Kreutzer Thomas Kreutzer on Jul 27, 2012

    When I was in Japan I worked with translators for many meetings and presentations. Although I speak Japanese pretty well, just to be on the safe side, I always used translators for especially important meetings and public presentations. When someone is with you in a professional setting, translating your thoughts and words into another language, you develop a special bond. There is a special level of respect between you and your translator - their skill is as important as yours because how you communicate, at least in my line of work, is as important as what you communicate. If that bond, which is so well described above, fails to develop, then you probably need to find another translator. I'll never forget the meeting in which someone on the other side, noting the rapport I had with my translator, asked how long we had been married. We all had a good laugh, especially since the woman was almost 30 years my senior. When you get that kind of response, you know you have "the connection" and you go from performing without a safety net to a situation where you can take real risks with how you communicate because you know this other person will not let you fall. A professional relationship like this is amazing to see, but even more amazing to be a part of. It's a melding of the minds, like having a second brain inside your head that speaks another language and knows another culture. And to those of you who are wondering about romantic entanglements it can be tempting, but that special relationship is like catching lightning in a bottle, you never want to mess that up. It's too important.

  • GiddyHitch GiddyHitch on Jul 28, 2012

    Articles like these are why I stopped reading other car sites and let my Automobile subscription lapse. well done.

  • Lorenzo I shop for all-season tires that have good wet and dry pavement grip and use them year-round. Nothing works on black ice, and I stopped driving in snow long ago - I'll wait until the streets and highways are plowed, when all-seasons are good enough. After all, I don't live in Canada or deep in the snow zone.
  • FormerFF I’m in Atlanta. The summers go on in April and come off in October. I have a Cayman that stays on summer tires year round and gets driven on winter days when the temperature gets above 45 F and it’s dry, which is usually at least once a week.
  • Kwik_Shift_Pro4X I've never driven anything that would justify having summer tires.
  • Scotes So I’ll bite on a real world example… 2020 BMW M340i.&nbsp;Michelin Pilot Sport 4S.&nbsp;At 40k now and I replaced them at about 20k.&nbsp;Note this is the staggered setup on rwd. They stick like glue when they are new and when they are warm.&nbsp;Usually the second winter when temps drop below 50/60 in the mornings they definitely feel like they are not awake and up to the task and noise really becomes an issue as the wear sets in.&nbsp;As I’ve made it through this rainy season here in LA will ride them out for the summer but thinking to go Continental DWS before the next cold/rainy season.&nbsp;Thoughts?&nbsp;Discuss.
  • Merc190 The best looking Passat in my opinion. Even more so if this were brown. And cloth seats. And um well you know the best rest and it doesn't involve any electronics...
Next