--Constant (cyclical) turnover of Japanese management, with each incoming executive thinking the wheel needs to be reinvented and trademarked for his benefit.
--Unrealistic expectations, with no appreciation for the realities of the U.S. market.
--Often the Japanese managers are transferred in from an unrelated division; so the former IT VP based in Brazil is suddenly the U.S. CFO. Gotta love cross-training, but the business suffers due to their incompetence, especially if they throw out whatever the predecessor was doing that actually worked.
--Top Japanese executives, often clueless in their new roles, like to pit one division against another, making each side justify their functions and debunk the accusations from other divisions. While there is some method to that madness, it wastes countless resources.
--The above issues lead to the Americans constantly back-stabbing each other to make themselves look like heroes that are on board with the new Japanese manager's (often) wacko ideas, rather than diplomatically working with the Japanese to explain the intricacies of the U.S. market so everyone's time (and life) are not wasted on wild goose chases.