Howard Baker markets services to Japanese companies

In another example of the revolving door between government and industry, former U.S. Ambassador to Japan Howard Baker Jr. has hung out a shingle as a strategic adviser to Japanese companies doing business in the U.S.

Baker served as ambassador to Japan from June 26, 2001 until February 17, 2005. The Tennessee Republican is also a former Senate Majority leader and chief of staff to the late President Ronald Reagan.

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The Japan-U.S. Strategic Advisory, as the new consultancy is called, is part of Baker Donelson Bearman Caldwell & Berkowitz, the law and lobby firm where he is senior counsel.

Other advisors in the Japan-U.S. group include J. Bennett Johnston, a former Democratic senator and chairman of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, and Shotaro Yachi, a former Japanese vice minister of foreign affairs.

“Japan and the United States remain the world’s largest economies and closest allies, but they face new challenges as the 21st century unfolds– in world markets, in international security, in energy security,” Baker said in a statement. “In a global economy shaken by energy and financial shocks, I’m convinced that we need to bolster our bilateral relationship by encouraging greater economic interaction between our private sectors.”

Baker Donelson Bearman Caldwell & Berkowitz already represents Toshiba Corp., which paid it $900,000 in 2008, according to records compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics. Besides Toshiba, it represents Boeing, Lockheed and WR Grace & Co., among dozens of clients.

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