Yasuo Kanzaki, left, was the head of the international division at Nikko Securities in 1987 when he helped Blackstone raise capital in the company's early years.
Yasuo Kanzaki, left, was the head of the international division at Nikko Securities in 1987 when he helped Blackstone raise capital in the company's early years. Right, a scene at the Nikko Securities office in Osaka in October 1987. (Right source photo by Nikkei) A deal in a Tokyo taxi changed Blackstone's trajectory In the first few years after its founding in 1985, Blackstone languished in obscurity. What changed our fortunes was Japanese money. And the man who set the table for us was Yasuo Kanzaki, then head of the international division at Nikko Securities.