TOKYO -- In the late 1980s as Japan's economy boomed, a 20-something Tatsuo Yasunaga found himself scouring Indonesia's Sumatra time after time, as a recent graduate trying to make his way up the corporate ladder at Japan Inc.

For Tatsuo Yasunaga, chairman of the Japan Foreign Trade Council and chair of Mitsui & Co., it's important for Asia to show where it can contribute to what the U.S. president wants -- the revitalization of the American economy. (Nikkei montage/Source photos by Yuki Kohara)
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