Mitsuhiro Yamazaki, who grew up in Japan, never was supposed to go to college. Yet he has earned two degrees, learned two foreign languages and become a key player in San Antonio's international business community.

He helped bring the data center revolution to San Antonio. Though he didn't work on the massive Microsoft Corp. project, Yamazaki was among those responsible for courting Lowe's Cos. Inc., which last year began construction on a Westover Hills data center. Lowe's was the first among several companies that since have announced plans for data centers in San Antonio.

Yamazaki, a vice president with the San Antonio Economic Development Foundation, grew up in a modest apartment overlooking rice fields northeast of Tokyo. He graduated from a vocational high school and was to build a career with Hitachi.

But for him, that wasn't enough.

Yamazaki dreamed of working for the United Nations and of changing lives. But to do that, he would need to speak two official U.N. languages, of which Japanese is not one. And he would need one thing he wasn't able to get in Japan — a college education.

"I was one of those bad students who couldn't even get into general studies high school," said Yamazaki, the first college graduate in his family.

He tried everything he could to get into college in Japan despite his vocational high school background but was unsuccessful.

To get the education he so desperately wanted, Yamazaki worked as a dishwasher, a salad chef and a mountain ranger. He traveled halfway around the world to the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg, his most affordable option, and he learned English.

It was by no means an easy journey.

Just a day after arriving in the U.S., it took Yamazaki 45 minutes to translate his first American college roommate's greeting, "Sup, man?"

But within a few years, Yamazaki became fluent not only in English but also in Spanish. He even spent six months studying in Mexico.

And although he now can fulfill the U.N.'s language requirements, he has chosen a different path.

A natural leader with a good sense of humor, Yamazaki has dedicated himself to economic development.

"It satisfies both my business interests and my international desires," he said.

Yamazaki works to recruit companies to San Antonio, trotting the globe to cut deals in places including his native Japan.

"He understands San Antonio and he understands Japan so he's able to bridge the gap," said David Marquez, Bexar County's director of economic development. "He does an outstanding job of selling his adopted home city."

Former Alamo Asian American Chamber of Commerce President Elisa Chan describes Yamazaki as someone wise beyond his 32 years.

"At first you look at him and think, 'Wow, he is very young,'" she said. "But the look is deceiving. He's very much a meticulous, smart person who really thinks through the process."

Yamazaki moved to San Antonio in 2003 to help open Yates Construction's Texas office. Eighteen months later, Yamazaki had landed $80 million in new construction projects.

Since starting with the San Antonio Economic Development Foundation in September 2004, he has helped numerous companies move to the Alamo City.

"Here I am," he said. "The guy behind the scenes."

Link to Express News