When Ken Ohno's Japanese mother-in-law asked him to keep an eye on the family business in Nagano Prefecture in the late 1990s, he had little idea where it might lead.
"My father-in-law was diagnosed as diabetic when he was 50. He worsened in 1994 and died of a heart attack in 1997. Over this period, there was nothing official about my taking over ITEC, but rather, "Take a look what we do, tell us what you think. . ."
Ohno is now CEO of ITEC Corporation, moving between an office in Hiroo, Tokyo, and a factory in Shiojiri in Nagano, making antennas and other wireless gadgets. There is even an office in Seattle, run by his mother, for one good reason: "I like to have offices in the places I visit."