Howie Cohen. I do not know how to make a fair introduction to this man without overstating or understating his contributions to the bicycle industry in the USA and internationally,
starting in the 1960s and into the 1980s or longer.
Here is a link to where Mr Cohen describes some of his history.
https://www.proteanpaper.com/scart_a...?comp=howiebik
https://www.bicycleretailer.com/nort...s#.X-1Q5FhlDmg
Howie Cohen's parents owned West Coast Cycle Supply Company(WCCSC) in California,
a company that distributed bicycles, wheel goods (tricycles & pedal cars) parts,
accessories and sundries to retailers in the USA. Mr. Cohen entered the family business and after his father passed away took charge of some aspects of the business.
Mr. Cohen traveled to Japan in the 1960s to find companies that could supply bicycles suitable for the US consumer. He was, to say the least, successful in this task.
In 1976 Mr. Cohen left WCCSC. He started a new business focused on BMX bicycles and started working as a consultant within the bicycle industry.
Mr. Cohen passed away in July of 2013.
Over the years Mr. Cohen traveled to Japan many times and met many people in the the various sectors of the Japanese bicycle business.
I do not know if he ever wrote a book about his experiences, but he did create a website:
http://www.howiebikeman.com.
The website no longer exists but some of Everything Bicycles is being preserved for the time being on another website.
https://www.proteanpaper.com/scart_r...desc&skey=norm
https://www.proteanpaper.com/scart_s...desc&skey=norm
Here are some quotes from Howie Cohen's website:
Category: "Who's Who-Exporters"
H. Tano co. Ltd. Kobe, Japan
H. Tano Co., Ltd. - Kobe, Japan
The H. Tano Co was a major exporter of bicycles, parts and accessories.
Mr. H. Tano`s two sons, Isao & Masahiro were both active in the business.
They were the major supplier for Western States Import (WSI) while Mitch Weiner was alive.
Mr. Mukai was the key man in the Kobe office;
he had a great knowledge of the Japan bicycle industry.
Howie purchased Premium brand Hi-Riser bikes using H. Tano Shokai in the early 1960`s.
These bikes were produced by Sakai Bicycle Co (Mr. Katayama, president).
This is an advertisement for the H. Tano Co that appeared
in the 1952 edition of the Japan Bicycle Guide on page 213. [Item# H.Tano Shokai]
https://www.proteanpaper.com/scart_r...00000000000418
WSI was founded in about 1969 by Mitchell Weiner (Mitch).
The company sold Centurion brand bicycles starting in about 1970,
and in about 1979 developed the brand Diamond Back for BMX & Mountain Bikes.
The majority of the WSI bicycles were produced in Japan at the beginning;
but then when exchange rate fluctuations caused the US Dollar to be weak vs the Japanese Yen,
some production was moved to Taiwan.
The H. Tano Co of Kobe was the exporter that supplied WSI with the Japanese bicycles and parts.
Isao and Masahiro Tano, the sons of the founder of Tano, worked closely with WSI.
Two other Tano employees, Junya Yamakoshi (Cozy) & Mukai-san were deeply involved with the WSI business.
Mike Bobrick and Al Stonehouse were officers of the company in the later years.
Additional pictures & text pending. See the picture gallery.
https://www.proteanpaper.com/scart_r...00000000000410
In both of these pages from his website, Howie Cohen is very clear H. Tano and Company are exports of bicycles, parts and accessories.
Howie Cohen even used H. Tano and Company as an export company for Hi-Riser bike and the bicycles were not manufactured by H. Tano and Company.
(Hi-Riser bikes were popular in the second half of the 1960s and into the 1970s.)
For the American Eagle brand name it appears that Howie Cohen took on the role normally done by a Japanese export company. Howie Cohen first traveled to Japan specifically to find Japanese companies to supply frames and parts for this brand, although the name may not have been determined at that time. He says he traveled to Japan several times a year and sometimes stayed for extended periods. He could therefore manage much of the work that an export company would do. It sounds like Howie Cohen enjoyed meeting and working with people. From his website you can see the people from Japan with whom he developed working relationships.
Other North American companies importing bicycles from Japan prior to 1971 were unlikely to do what Howie Cohen did. It was much simpler to use a Japanese trading company and trust that they had the connections to the bicycle manufacturers necessary to get the bicycle products that they required.
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"Your a very quiet lot."
Johnny Rotten on stage at the Winterland Ballroom, San Francisco, California 01/14/78