Hello from Tokyo. When Thailand's government announced the discovery of one of the world's largest lithium deposits last week, expectations soared regarding its potential impact on regional EV production. However, Bangkok later toned down its rhetoric and corrected the estimated size of the deposit, providing a valuable lesson -- not only for the media but also for companies -- on the importance of strong judgment when evaluating information from governments or policymakers.

This week's Big Story looks at how Asian businesses are scrambling to keep up with U.S. politics as global interest in America's presidential race intensifies. A company's future depends on its ability to stay informed and how it anticipates, prepares for and mitigates geopolitical risks. U.S. policy changes that influence geopolitical events such as the war in Ukraine or target specific industries with sanctions can be a matter of life or death for global companies. As a result, they invest millions of dollars in lobbying efforts in Washington.

When it comes to that topic, I always remember an incident that shed light on the importance of U.S. lobbying for Japan decades ago. In 1987, the U.S. Department of Defense discovered that Toshiba Machine, a subsidiary of Toshiba, was exporting machine tools to the Soviet Union in violation of Western regulations concerning military technology.

After the violation was revealed, the chairman and president of the parent company, Toshiba, resigned, while Japan's government tried hard to reassure Washington that the incident wouldn't be repeated due to increased monitoring. But anger didn't abate in the U.S. Congress and it passed legislation to punish Japan, with broader Toshiba-bashing also spreading.

Toshiba felt helpless, telling employees in the U.S. to keep quiet and not do anything to draw attention to themselves. But Tetsuo Kadoya, who worked at the company's Dallas office at the time, together with his colleagues and their families, sent more than 10,000 letters to U.S. congressmen, mostly from Texas. Although they failed to stop the legislation, the eventual impact on Toshiba was less severe than expected because some members of Congress responded to the letters and tried to help.

Toshiba still does business in America. It also managed to acquire U.S. nuclear power plant maker Westinghouse in 2006. Kadoya, who was head of the company's Washington office when I met him more than 10 years ago, emphasized the importance of continuing efforts to maintain grassroots exchanges with politicians on a personal basis, rather than leaving everything to lobbyists.

But it is not so easy for Japanese companies to establish long-term relationships with U.S. policymakers, especially when it is very common to rotate overseas corporate positions every few years. So, it does make sense for them to rely on lobbyists. Back home, however, lobbying itself could be changing dramatically after one of the biggest political funding scandals ever to hit Japan.

In the wake of the slush fund scandal that led to the arrest of a member of one of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's factions this month, there have been a number of decisions to dissolve party factions that have long served as the LDP's fundraising machine and as key points of contact with business and industry lobby groups. Opposition parties are calling for a complete ban on corporate political donations, including the purchase of tickets to fundraising events.

If a company wants to get something done, there are actually many paths to take besides lobbying politicians. Yamaha, a Japanese manufacturer of musical instruments, has started providing free instruments to schools in India and other Asian countries, pushing to score more sales down the road .

Turning back to the topic of elections, the presidential contest in Indonesia, the most populous country in Southeast Asia, is approaching. Unlike Japan, South Korea and China, whose populations are aging, Indonesia has a large youth vote. Our Asia Insight explains what these young voters want candidates to deliver .

Lastly, this week's Tea Leaves column offers its own insight into the kinds of creative methods some ordinary people use to deal with politics. It looks into the basket-like bamboo boats on Vietnamese beaches that were once produced by local fishermen to avoid taxation by French authorities.

Wishing you a wonderful weekend!

Shin Nakayama

Editor-in-chief, Nikkei Asia

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