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Even so, Nomura realizes that progress in the U.S. will be slow. Says a top officer in Tokyo: "The market in New York is very big, and it is going to take us a while before we really get a share. But we can be patient, even take some losses and develop it." Rivals on Wall Street know they cannot afford to be complacent. Says Eugene Atkinson, former head of the Tokyo branch of Manhattan's Goldman, Sachs investment firm: "Despite all our efforts to make long-term plans, we pale in comparison with Nomura's awesome strategic thinking and investment." There is always the reminder of Detroit in the 1960s, when U.S. auto companies thought they were invulnerable to Japanese competition. Says Jayme Garcia dos Santos, general manager of Chase Manhattan Securities in Japan: "It's true that the Japanese have a lot to learn in New York markets. But we all have to be very careful. How often have we underestimated the Japanese ability to learn."
