The study offers the first large scale product-level study of the factors which influence Japanese manufacturing firm`s order of U.S. market entry. Our results support market rivalry rather than firm-specific advantages arguments. Japanese first-investors do not have as strong a research concentration as second-investors and late-investors. Japanese firms with medium market shares have a greater tendency to be first-investors. Japanese firms belonging to enterprise groups tend to be first-investors due to stiff competition across enterprise groups. In addition, Japanese firms with previous experience in the U. S. market tend to be first-investors in another product market. On the other hand, Japanese firms` advertising intensity and their membership in a keiretsu group do not affect its order of U.S. market entry.