History of China Pete's


		OKINAWA CITY, Japan – For three decades, thousands of Americans who’ve pulled tours of duty in Japan and a lot of other places in the Pacific have been setting their dinner tables with Ikuo Yamashita’s wares. The name "Yamashita" might not ring a bell with a lot of customers, but "China Pete" should. That name hangs over Yamashita’s two stores in Okinawa and one each in Misawa and Sagamihara on the Japanese mainland. And over the years it has become a household word for GIs in this part of the world. At the largest of China Pete's stores, the Kadena Store in Okinawa, the marble-floored vestibule and sweeping staircase to the second story entice customers to browse among displays of china, figurines and crystal – all items Yamashita has been selling to his almost exclusively American clientele since 1957. The Kadena store is the flagship for the business that Yamashita began 30 years ago by peddling a handful of delicate figurines door-to-door. "I was very poor back then and could only afford a bicycle to transport my figurines," he said. "I sold them to American families in Nagoya when 5th Air Force Headquarters was at Moriyama AS." He worked for a small china-manufacturing company at the time, one of nearly 50 such in the business-industrial center of Nagoya in the south-central part of Honshu, Japan’s main island. When the day’s production was done, Yamashita said, he would rummage through "leftover" figurines and take the best home to be washed and readied for sale to US military families. Fifth Air Force Headquarters moved to Fuchu AS in suburban Tokyo that year, and customers suggested he do the same. He and his brother, Yoshio, did follow the Americans to Tokyo, where they changed their marketing strategy. They would pack up a selection of figurines and take them to an American home, where prospective customers could peruse and buy while enjoying tea and cookies. "They were like the Tupperware parties," said Yamashita. "I would take orders and bring the merchandise to the bases on paydays." IN 1962, Yamashita opened his first store near Tachikawa AB, west of Tokyo, still selling his figurines, and adding a small line of china and stoneware dishes. For reasons he hasn’t yet figured out, business didn’t flourish, and he closed after 18 months. A small shop he opened at Fussa, outside Yokota AB, a few years later, also went belly up. One thing Yamashita acquired before the Tachikawa store closed was the nickname that was to become almost as familiar to Americans in the Pacific as sushi and Sony. My American customers told me Yamashita was too hard for them to pronounce, so a few of them began calling me "Figurine Pete," he said. "After I added china to my line, they began calling me ‘China Pete,’ and I have been using it ever since." After the two shops failed, he and his brother continued their home parties at Tokyo-area military bases, but they expanded their horizons. EACH MONTH, they packed a truck with chinaware and figurines and traveled to bazaars sponsored by Officer’s Wives Clubs at Tachikawa and Yokota ABs, at Yokosuka NB just south of Yokohama, and at Misawa AB in northern Japan. "We would drive for many hours, but we did very large amount of business, too" Yamashita said. In the late 1960s, he tried another store, this time in Sagamihara, just outside Camp Zama and not far from Yokosuka NB and Atsugi NAS. And, he kept his eye on another market he’d always suspected had considerable potential: Okinawa. "At that time, I considered Okinawa a foreign country, because it had not yet reverted to Japanese administration," he said. "But there were many Americans down there, and I knew that could be good for my business." SHORTLY AFTER Okinawa became a Japanese prefecture again in 1972, he opened a small shop a block behind what then was called BC Street, a rowdy bar district catering to GIs. Today, the street is a fashionable shopping district called Central Park Avenue. Business boomed, and he moved to larger digs on Kuko Street – called Gate 2 Street by Americans – which became a mecca for china bargain hunters from around the Pacific. Today, Yamashita watches over his business from his Nagoya headquarters. He added another store at Misawa AB a few years ago, and opened his first store actually on a US Forces base last year, at the Kadena services mall. The business remains essentially a family enterprise, with his brother running the two Okinawa stores and his sister, Yoshiko, handling accounting in Nagoya. There are just 18 employees. YAMASHITA CONTINUES to be the chain’s chief buyer, purchasing huge quantities of china, stoneware and figurines from factories in Nagoya. A 40 percent drop in the value of the dollar against the yen has put many businesses that cater to Americans in dire straits. Yamashita said he’d felt some effect but buying in bulk helped keep his prices low. His marketing strategy remains simple. Yamashita said that while a small segment of his clientele prefers to buy Noritake dinner sets costing $500 - $600, the majority have limited budgets. He caters to this segment by offering china and stoneware sets in the $50-to-$70 range. "I have remained honest to my customers and keep their budgets in mind," he said. "If I find a quantity of good china seconds (products that haven’t passed the manufacturer’s quality control inspections), I tell my customers they are seconds, not first quality." "It is very important to be honest with the customer, and I have built my business with that in mind." He said he wouldn’t add cheap items to his inventory, insisting his customers want only good items at reasonable prices. "I want return customers who remember they can buy only good china at China Pete’s." Yamashita said he was proud that much of his business today is from customers whose parents shopped in his stores decades ago when they, too, served in the Far East. THAT "SECOND GENERATION" business is one of the reasons he said he didn’t have to advertise to keep his cash registers ringing. He relies instead on word-of-mouth recommendations from customers. Although his door-to-door peddling days are over, he still puts in 18-hour workdays at his Nagoya headquarters, and during periodic visits to his stores, he frequently works side-by-side with his employees, wrapping purchases, checking stock levels and making sure customers leave his stores happy. And he wants you to known that he doesn’t fit the stereotype of the stiff, intense Japanese businessman in necktie and dark suit. "I enjoy my work very much, but I don’t like to wear suits very much," he said. "I only put one on when I’m having my picture taken."