Mansfield Fellows Visit Toyota and Panasonic
May 3, 2019

MFP 23 Fellows learn about Toyota’s design and assembly process at the company’s Motomachi Plant.
The twenty-third class of Mike Mansfield Fellows made their way to Nagoya and Osaka last month, where they were hosted by Corporate Friends of Mansfield Toyota and Panasonic. The companies have been long-time partners with the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation and the Fellowship. Fellows enjoyed taking a break from their Tokyo-based government placements to visit corporate facilities in other parts of Japan.
On April 18, the Fellows visited the Toyota Commemorative Museum of Industry and Technology, Toyota Kaikan Hall, and the Motomachi Plant in Aichi Prefecture. The next day, Fellows took the Shinkansen to Osaka, where they had lunch with Panasonic Vice Chairman Masayuki Matsushita, visited the Konosuke Matsushita Museum, and toured Panasonic’s Hall of Manufacturing Ingenuity.

MFP 23 with their Panasonic hosts (including Foundation Board Member Masato Nakamura, fourth from right) pose in front of a statue of Panasonic’s founder, Konosuke Matsushita.
During both days, the federal employees from the fellowship program learned about the role of Japan’s private sector in the U.S.-Japan bilateral relationship.
The Mansfield Foundation and our Fellows appreciate the ongoing support and hospitality of our partners at Toyota and Panasonic.