Many will remember numerous news items in the late 1980s about Japanese investors taking over U.S. companies, buying landmark buildings or building businesses in our country.

Mitsubishi Estate Co. in 1989 paid $846 million for a 51 percent stake in Rockefeller Center in midtown Manhattan. That same year, Sony Corp. achieved a $3.4 billion takeover of Columbia Pictures. These are only a couple of examples.

Japanese investment also touched our region in the late 1980s. In 1986, Sanyo Shokai Ltd. of Tokyo announced a manufacturing company for the Pony Farm Industrial Park. In 1989, Japanese investors bought the former Kass Inn near Margaretville, today’s Hanah Mountain Resort and Country Club.

In May 1986, The Daily Star reported that Sanyo Shokai (Sanyo) had announced plans to build a 47,600-square-foot factory and would initially hire 90 workers. They were hired from the Oneonta Dress Co., then found on lower Chestnut Street with Joseph Creighton as president.

Creighton said the project was the first Japanese-owned fashion-apparel manufacturing company in America. Creighton went to Japan for training and returned to train local employees on what he described as state-of-the-art equipment.

One item of apparel that Sanyo excelled in was raincoats, which were to be made in Oneonta. At groundbreaking ceremonies Sept. 5, there was a downpour during most of the 20-minute ceremony.

"Sorry for the weather, but it is good for business," Creighton told those on hand, about 30 Japanese and American businessmen and officials involved in the venture.

As for the Oneonta Dress Co., a Canajoharie firm announced it had bought the company in November. It operated a few more years on the site.

Sanyo began operations in March 1987 with the name Sanyo Fashion House, with a lighted sign on the building visible from Interstate 88. More than 900 attended an open house at the grand opening of the plant June 8, 1987.

Orders for the raincoats hit hard times in March 1999. It was announced in July that the plant would close by Sept. 30. On Sept. 22, Sanyo Sewing America Inc. transferred ownership of the sewing factory to a new local company, Valley Holding, LLC.

Valley Fashion Apparel continued as a garment manufacturer just days after the transfer took place. Business continued until 2005, when orders ceased from Burberry, which had provided nearly all of Valley Fashion’s business. The building is now occupied by Apple Converting, a specialized packaging company.

In Margaretville, Japanese investors had visited the area during 1988 and liked what they saw. It was announced in July 1989 that investors had purchased the nearly 70-year-old Kass Inn. The sale of the 854-acre restaurant, motel and golf course was to You-Ing USA Inc. for more than $2 million. The plans were to upgrade the present facilities and add a health spa.

The business, just off state Route 30 between Margaretville and Kelly Corners, was begun by Max Kass as a boarding house around 1920. It was originally a farmhouse but grew quickly from there as a site for wedding receptions, dances, large political gatherings and other special events.

The new owners, Daisuke Mizutani and Koji Nagasaka, renamed the business The Hanah Country Inn and Spa when it re-opened in 1990. The name hanah means flower. Nagasaka said he thought of the name after returning to Japan from his initial visit to the Margaretville area earlier in 1989.

Numerous improvements later, and now called the Hanah Mountain Resort and Country Club, the business remains under Japanese ownership. It is a regular host to groups of Japanese tourists, among other vacationers and avid golfers. It is a year-round resort, also offering packages to local ski areas at Plattekill and Belleayre.

This weekend: A landmark railroad trestle was built high above Sidney Center.

City Historian Mark Simonson’s column appears twice weekly. On Saturdays, his column focuses on the area during the Depression and before. His Monday columns address local history after the Depression. If you have feedback or ideas about the column, write to him at The Daily Star, or e-mail him at simmark@stny.rr.com. His website is www.oneontahistorian.com.