With his country being the No. 1 investor in the state of Tennessee, Masami Kinefuchi, Consul-General of Japan for the Southeastern United States stressed the importance of the bond between our two countries during his talk Thursday before the Rotary Club of McMinnville.“Japan is the largest investor in Tennessee,” Kinefuchi said during his address of the local club. “Japanese-owned companies employee nearly 48,000 Tennesseans.”Kinefuchi said if distribution and supply jobs that help support the Japanese industries are added to the figure, the number of jobs brought to the Volunteer State would be three times that number.“There are 180 Japanese companies doing business in Tennessee,” Kinefuchi said, adding that Tennessee also does $2 billion in exports to Japan each year on average.“We are a critical trading partner with Tennessee,” Kinefuchi declared, adding there are about 4,200 Japanese citizens who call Tennessee home.The partnership, Kinefuchi said, is part of the close friendship between the United States and Japan, a friendship that has been constant for decades.“It’s a sterling example in how two countries can work together,” Kinefuchi said.