Japan has been hailed as one of the world’s most creative and innovative countries, while simultaneously being maligned as a stagnant and lost economy that has lost its lustre. Yet as the world confronts the limits of Western concepts of innovation and the value that these bring, unique, sustainable and inclusive models of innovation developed throughout Japan’s long history may have important and globally applicable lessons and ideas that could guide the future of innovation and value creation in multiple industries and sectors around the world. The purpose of this Symposium is to explore innovation and value creation from the perspective of senior leaders in Japan who are guiding these efforts across government, business and educational initiatives and within three distinct categories to recognise and enhance Japan’s innovation ecosystems, including (1) heritage businesses, (2) multinational companies, and (3) young entrepreneurs and startups. Through a mature conversation between leaders across these fields and industries, we will address the questions of “what is innovation?” “What is value?” “What are innovation ecosystems?” and what we mean by these terms in context. This symposium aims to gain new insights into what truly drives innovation and drives value creation in Japan today and the most important factors that will further enhance the impact of these both domestically and globally.
Keynote Speakers
Yoshimasa Hayashi
Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology & Member of the House of Councillors, Japan
H.E. Dr Toshiya Hoshino
Ambassador and Deputy Permanent Representative of Japan to the United Nations
Motoko Imada
CEO & Founder, INFOBAHN Inc.
Oki Matsumoto
Managing Director & Chairman, Monex Group
Yuzaburo Mogi
Honorary Chief Executive Officer & Chairman of the Board, Kikkoman Corp., Japan
Dr Sachio Semmoto
Chairman, RENOVA, Inc.
Moderators
Marco Koeder
Digital Business Director, J. Walter Thompson, Japan
Hiroko Koide
Board Director, Vicela Japan Co. Ltd.
David Hajime Kornhauser
Director, Global Communications, Kyoto University, Japan
Peter Landers
Tokyo Bureau Chief, The Wall Street Journal
Ross Rowbury
President, Edelman Japan
Dan Sloan
Founder, Nissan Global Media Center
Geoffrey Wexler
Chief, International Division, Studio Ponoc, Japan
Speakers
Ludovico Ciferri
President & Representative Director, Advanet
Dr Joseph Haldane
Chairman & CEO, The International Academic Forum (IAFOR), Japan
Masao Hosoo
President (11th Generation), Hosoo Corporation
Dr Yoshiaki Ishii
Director, Science, Technology and Innovation Bureau, Cabinet Office, Japan
Masafumi Ishibashi
Senior Managing Executive Officer, Nestle Japan Ltd
Yoko Ishikura
Professor Emeritus, Hitotsubashi University, Japan
Reverend Takafumi Kawakami
Zen Priest & Vice Abbot, Shunkoin Temple, Kyoto, Japan
Mandali Khalesi
Global Head of Automated Driving Mobility and Innovation, Toyota Motor Corporation
David Milstein
Partner, Head of Japan, Eight Roads Ventures
Jin Song Montesano
Director, Senior Managing Director, Chief Public Affairs Officer, LIXIL Corporation
Kosuke Motani
Chief Senior Economist, Japan Research Institute, Japan
Shuji Nakagawa
President & Craftsman, Nakagawa Mokkougei, Japan
Rumiko Obata
Executive Vice President, Obata Sake Brewery
Tamaki Sano
General Manager, Business Creation Dept., Kirin Company, Ltd.
Professor Haruko Satoh
Professor, OSIPP, Osaka University, Japan
Kei Shimada
Director of Innovation, IBM Innovation and Incubation Labs
Yoshie Sugai
Iyonoma Ryu Aikido Kyoto Dojo, Japan
Professor Philip Sugai
Professor, Doshisha University, Graduate School of Business, Japan
Eikei Suzuki
Governor, Mie Prefecture, Japan
David M. Uze
Co-Founder & CEO, Trillium Secure, Inc.
Schedule
Start
End
Details
09:00
09:05
Opening Address
09:05
09:15
Welcome Address
09:15
09:40
Keynote Speakers: Individual Speeches
09:40
10:15
Keynote Panel
10:15
10:45
PAUSE/COFFEE BREAK
10:45
11:20
Heritage Panel Intro & Individual Speeches
11:20
12:00
"Heritage Panel Q&A and Wrap-up"
12:00
13:15
LUNCH BREAK
13:15
13:35
Big Company Panel Intro & Individual Speeches
13:35
14:15
"Big Company Panel Q&A and Wrap-up"
14:15
14:20
PAUSE
14:20
14:40
Startup Panel Intro and Individual Speeches
14:40
15:20
"Startup Panel Q&A and Wrap-up"
15:20
15:50
COFFEE BREAK (Sponsored)
15:50
16:10
Gov't and Education Panel Intro & Individual Speeches
16:10
16:50
"Gov't and Education Panel Q&A and Wrap-up"
16:50
17:00
PAUSE
17:00
17:45
Big Panel (All remaining speakers)
17:45
17:55
Closing Remarks and End of Symposium
18:00
19:00
Networking Event
19:00
21:00
VIP (Invitation Only) Dinner
Media Partners
Corporate Strategic Partner
Yoshimasa Hayashi
Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology & Member of the House of Councillors, Japan
Biography
Yoshimasa Hayashi is currently serving as Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, a post he has held since August 2017, but his career in public service reaches back more than twenty years. He previously served as Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, from 2012 to 2014, and again in 2015. Under the Aso government, Mr Hayashi served as Minister of State for Economic and Fiscal Policy (2009). In 2008, he was a member of the Fukuda Cabinet as Minister of Defense. From 2006-2007, Mr Hayashi was Senior Vice-Minister of the Cabinet Office. His first Cabinet post came in 1999 when he was named Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Finance under the Obuchi government. Mr Hayashi has been Member of the House of Councillors since 1995, and was a candidate for the Presidency of the LDP in 2012. Prior to his own election to the House of Councillors, Mr Hayashi served as Secretary to Yoshiro Hayashi, a Member of the House of Representatives (1992-1993). Mr Hayashi worked in the private sector, at Mitsui & Co., Ltd, from 1984-1989.
Mr Hayashi graduated from Tokyo University in 1984, and completed his Masters in Public Administration at Harvard University`s Kennedy School of Government, in 1994.
Ambassador and Deputy Permanent Representative of Japan to the United Nations
Biography
His Excellency Professor Toshiya Hoshino is presently Ambassador and Deputy Permanent Representative of Japan to the United Nations in New York.
Previous to his role at the UN, Professor Hoshino was on the faculty at the Osaka School of International Public Policy (Osaka University), serving as Dean from 2011 to 2014, before being appointed Vice-President (International) of the University from 2014 to 2016.
From August 2006 to August 2008, he served as a Minister-Counselor in charge of political affairs at the Permanent Mission of Japan to the United Nations (UN). At the UN, he was a principal advisor to the Chair of the UN Peacebuilding Commission (PBC) when Japan assumed its chairmanship. He graduated from Sophia University, Japan, completed a Master’s at the University of Tokyo, and received his Doctorate (PhD) from Osaka University.
His previous positions have included: Senior Research Fellow at the Japan Institute of International Affairs; Guest Scholar at the School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University; Fellow at Stanford Japan Center, Stanford University; Visiting Fellow, Woodrow Wilson School, Princeton University; and Special Assistant (Political Affairs) at the Embassy of Japan to the United States.
He is a specialist in UN peace and security policies (conflict prevention, peacemaking, peacekeeping and peacebuilding), human security and humanitarian issues, security in the Asia-Pacific region and Japan-US relations.
Motoko Imada
CEO & Founder, INFOBAHN Inc.
Biography
Motoko Imada has served as CEO of the INFOBAHN Group, Inc. since 2015. She founded INFOBAHN, Inc., a digital agency, in 1998, as well as the online media enterprise Mediagene, Inc., in 2008. Motoko became a Dentsu Institute Fellow in January 2018. After graduating from Doshisha University’s Faculty of Economics, Motoko studied History of Art at Sotheby's Institute of Art before launching WIRED Japan in 1994, at Dohosha Publishing. She now oversees twelve online publications, including the business news medium for millennials Business Insider Japan, tech news outlet “GIZMODO JAPAN”, and Lifehacker Japan. In 2013, Motoko was an award winner at the First Annual Web Grand Prix Awards.
株式会社インフォバーン代表取締役CEO。同志社大学経済学部卒業後、イギリスのSotheby's Institute of Art にて History of Art course 修了。同朋社出版に入社後、1994年に『WIRED』日本語版を創刊。その後、1998年にデジタルエージェンシー、株式会社インフォバーン、2008年にはオンラインメディア企業、株式会社メディアジーンをそれぞれ設立する。2015年株式会社インフォバーングループ本社代表取締役CEOに就任。2018年1月より電通総研フェローに就任。ミレニアル世代に向けたビジネスニュースメディア「Business Insider Japan」テクノロジーニュースメディア「GIZMODO」および「Lifehacker」の日本版など12メディアを運営。2013年には第1回WebグランプリWeb人部門受賞。
Oki Matsumoto
Managing Director & Chairman, Monex Group
Biography
Oki Matsumoto was born in 1963. He graduated with a BA in Law from the University of Tokyo (1987), began his career at Salomon Brothers and joined Goldman Sachs in 1990. He was the head of their fixed income and currency business in Asia and became General Partner in 1994 at the age of 30, the youngest ever at the time. In 1999, he founded Monex which was jointly capitalised with Sony. In 2004 Monex integrated its business with Nikko Beans and established Monex Beans Holdings, Inc. (now Monex Group, Inc.) where he is presently Chairman & CEO.
Monex Group, Inc. is a global online financial institution with operations in three major financial centers; Monex, Inc. in Japan, TradeStation Group, Inc. in the United States, and Monex Boom Securities Limited in Hong Kong. The group has about 900 employees worldwide with over half of its staff located in the United States. Oki Matsumoto served as Financial Counsel to the Prime Minister and also as an outside director for several companies including Tokyo Stock Exchange from June 2008 to 2013. At present he is an outside director of MasterCard, Incorporated and UZABASE Inc. He is also a councilor of International House of Japan and a Vice Chair of Human Rights Watch.
Yuzaburo Mogi
Honorary Chief Executive Officer & Chairman of the Board, Kikkoman Corp., Japan
Biography
Mr Mogi was born in Noda City in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. He joined Kikkoman in 1958 after graduating from Keio University. In 1961, he became the first Japanese national to earn an MBA from Columbia University. He was appointed to the position of President and CEO in 1995, and Chairman and CEO in 2004. He assumed his current position in 2011.
Outside of Kikkoman, Mr Mogi is currently Chairman of the Japan Productivity Center. He also serves as Chairman of the Japan - Midwest U.S. Association and Honorary Ambassador of the State of Wisconsin. He was Japanese Chairman of the Japanese – German Forum from 2002 to 2015, Japanese Chairman of the Korea – Japan Forum from 2003 to 2015, Vice Chairman of Keizai Doyukai (Japan Association of Corporate Executives) from 1995 to 2003 and Trustee of Columbia University from 1994 to 2000. He also worked for the government as Chairman of the Council for Administrative Reduction and Efficiency, Chairman of the Council for Comprehensive Review of Administrative Expenditures, and Member of the Government Revitalization Unit.
He was awarded the Medal with Blue Ribbon of Japan in 1999, the Order of Orange Nassau from the Kingdom of the Netherlands in 2003, and the Commander’s Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany in 2006. He has published a number of books including “The Day Soy Sauce Made it to America’s Tables,” “Overseas Strategies Without Friction,” “Kikkoman’s Global Management,” and “Borders are Made to be Crossed”.
Dr Sachio Semmoto
Chairman, RENOVA, Inc.
Biography
Dr Semmoto joined RENOVA as an External Board Member in 2014, becoming Chairman in 2015. Prior to RENOVA, he founded four leading telecom companies including KDDI and eAccess. He has served on a number of boards internationally, including NetApp, Inc. (USA), and Reuters (UK), the world's leading international news agency.
Dr Semmoto has also been a full professor at Keio University, and a visiting professor at Carnegie Mellon University and the University of California, Berkeley. He holds a BS in Engineering from Kyoto University and a PhD in Engineering from the University of Florida. Dr Semmoto is an IEEE Fellow and a member of the Swedish Royal Academy of Engineering Science.
Marco Koeder
Digital Business Director, J. Walter Thompson, Japan
Biography
Marco joined JWT in 2015 as the Director of Digital Business supporting the digital business activities of the agency and its clients.
Originally from Germany, while based there he was one of the core members of I-D Media, a start-up that went IPO and became one of Europe's biggest digital agencies. He then moved to Tokyo to become the head of Cybermedia, a small digital strategy agency. There he was in charge of the development and implementation of digital strategies for clients, such as Bosch, Lufthansa, Disney, Nestle and others. He then joined MRM//McCann Japan as the Digital Marketing Director. Part of his daily business was to develop, implement and supervise online strategies for global brands in the Japanese market including web, mobile and social media.
Marco is a frequent speaker at industry events and has been teaching eMarketing and Social Media Marketing at the International University of Japan for a while. He is also the co-author of Six Immutable Laws of Mobile Business, a business strategy guide published by Wiley in the US/Europe and Korea.
In his spare time, Marco mentors start-up companies in Asia and Europe.
Hiroko Koide
Board Director, Vicela Japan Co. Ltd.
Biography
Over the last 30 years, Hiroko Koide has held various executive roles in marketing, brand development, and general management in international companies such as J. Walter Thompson, Unilever, Mars, Dior, and Newell Brands.
Koide joined Unilever Japan in 1993 and was promoted to the Board of Directors in 2001 as Brand Development Director, in charge of marketing, media, consumer research, R&D, and packaging. In 2003, Nikkei Woman Magazine named her “Woman of the Year”. She was appointed the Asia Regional Brand Director for Dove brand, in 2005. Koide then served as COO of Mars Japan before being named President and Representative Director of Parfums Christian Dior Japon in 2010. In 2011, she was featured as one of the 10 top executives in global companies in Japan in a book titled English-Power of Global Company Top Executives, by Diamond Corp. In 2013, Koide was named the External Board Director of Kirin Company Ltd.
In 2014, she joined Newell Rubbermaid (currently Newell Brands), US, as Senior Vice President, Global Brand Development, in charge of fine writing, baby, and technical apparel businesses, as well as brand positioning development across brands. Koide was appointed the External Board Director of Mitsubishi Electric Company, in 2016. In 2018, she joined Vicela Japan Co., Ltd as Board Director for Business Strategy and Marketing.
Koide earned her BA in English/American Literature from the University of Tokyo (Japan), in 1980, and her MS in Advertising/Marketing from Boston University Graduate School of Communication (USA), in 1986.
Director, Global Communications, Kyoto University, Japan
Biography
David Hajime Kornhauser is the first director of Kyoto University’s office of Global Communications, facilitating interaction with media — both domestic and international — for the university community. Previously he headed public relations for KyotoU’s iCeMS and then KURA, gaining hands-on understanding of one of Japan’s premiere research institutions which he applied to the eventual formation of the university’s first globally-oriented communications office in late 2015. David has extensive international communications and media experience, having served with the United States foreign service in China, Austria, and Japan; Japanese television and government in Washington DC; and corporate and public sector communications in Japan. He is a native of Honolulu HI, and is fluent in English, Japanese, and German.
Peter Landers
Tokyo Bureau Chief, The Wall Street Journal
Biography
Peter has nearly 20 years of experience at The Wall Street Journal as a reporter, editor and bureau chief. He joined the Journal as a Tokyo correspondent in 1999 and moved to the U.S. in 2002, where he served as a page-one staff editor in New York and assistant bureau chief in Washington, among other positions. He assumed his present post in February 2014. Peter is a graduate of Yale, where he studied classics and Japanese. With colleagues, he shared the National Press Foundation’s online journalism award for coverage of the Supreme Court’s 2012 ruling on the Affordable Care Act and the Society for American Business Writers and Editors explanatory journalism award for coverage of the Fukushima nuclear accident. He is fluent in Japanese and serves as a guest commentator on the Tokyo Broadcasting System Saturday evening program "ShinJoho7days Newscaster".
Ross Rowbury is President of Edelman Japan. He was formerly the Senior Managing Director and COO at PRAP, Japan’s largest independent public relations firm. Fluent in written and spoken Japanese, Ross has worked in the Japan market for 30 years and has a wealth of experience in management training, strategic consulting and comprehensive communications disciplines. Prior to PRAP, Ross was Managing Director at the Tokyo Office of Gavin Anderson & Company (now Kreab Gavin Anderson) as well as Director at BZW Securities, Tokyo.
Dan Sloan
Founder, Nissan Global Media Center
Biography
Dan Sloan has over 25 years in corporate communications and global media experience, leading teams at Nissan Motor and Reuters. Dan founded the Nissan Global Media Center, which yoked traditional and social media with corporate public relations, while earlier working as senior correspondent and bureau chief for Reuters. He is an author, frequent public speaker, and former adjunct professor of Journalism at Komazawa University. He served as president of the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan, and is a graduate of Columbia Graduate School of Journalism and University of Virginia.
Geoffrey Wexler
Chief, International Division, Studio Ponoc, Japan
Biography
Geoffrey Wexler leads the International Division at Studio Ponoc, continuing in the role he had at Studio Ghibli for over six years, includes negotiations for distribution of the Studio’s films, music and publications worldwide, production of English-language subtitled and dubbed versions of the Studio’s films, acquisition of story and music rights, and support of the Studio’s various international initiatives. Prior to joining Studio Ghibli in 2011 and then Studio Ponoc in 2017, Jeff was the lead regional in-house counsel for The Walt Disney Company’s internet businesses, for Asia Pacific based in Tokyo and for EMEA based in London, after private practice experience in Tokyo and Silicon Valley. Jeff has a BA from Stanford University (1986) and a JD from Columbia Law School (1993).
Jeff is the producer of the English-language subtitled and dubbed versions of six films and one television series, including the first film from Studio Ponoc, Mary and The Witch’s Flower (2017) by Hiromasa Yonebayashi, and the Studio Ghibli films From Up on Poppy Hill (2011) directed by Goro Miyazaki, the Academy Award-nominated The Wind Rises (2013) by director Hayao Miyazaki, the Academy Award-nominated The Tale of The Princess Kaguya (2013) and the classic Only Yesterday (1991) by director Isao Takahata, and the Academy Award-nominated When Marnie Was There (2014) directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi. Jeff produced the English-language dubbed version of Goro Miyazaki’s 26-episode animated television series Ronja, the Robber’s Daughter, based on the classic book by Astrid Lindgren (NHK in October 2014 and Amazon US and UK in January 2017).
Jeff has served as an Adjunct Professor at Keio Law School and Temple University Law School in Japan, and is licensed to practice as an attorney in California and as a solicitor under the laws of England and Wales.
Ludovico Ciferri
President & Representative Director, Advanet
Biography
Ludovico Ciferri (MA, ETP) is President and Representative Director of Advanet, a leading provider of industrial embedded board computers and systems designed, developed, and manufactured in Japan. An Associate Researcher at Mobile Internet Capital, Inc., a Japanese venture capital firm, he teaches “Private Equity & Venture Capital” and “Mobile Business Strategy” at the International University of Japan. He is Vice-President of Italia-Giappone Foundation and sits on the Scientific Board of the Private Equity Monitor – PEM®.
Before moving to Japan in 2001, he first worked for Microsoft edutainment products in Europe and was tasked with spreading “on-line” culture. In the mid 90s’ he moved to one of Italy’s earliest web-factories (B-Human). With two friends, he eventually established Wireless, a start-up company focused on disseminating awareness of wireless knowledge and its potential effects beyond the ICT industry; his company was accelerated and later consolidated into the Softpeople Group.
Since 2008 he has been focusing on the subject of the “silver population” and the role that technology can play to address the issues that an aging society poses. In 2009 he promoted a Series of Workshops on the Ageing Society, launched in Tokyo under the auspices of the UN University. Since 2010 he has been Co-chair of the International PhD School “Ageing Society and Technology: Systems, Theories, Practices”. In 2015, along with the University of Turin (Italy) he won a major Horizon 2020 EU grant for a four-year international project that he designed – with thirteen partners from nine countries and three continents – on ageing and the importance of nutrition in adding healthy life years in today’s quest for an “Active and healthy ageing”.
Dr Joseph Haldane
Chairman & CEO, The International Academic Forum (IAFOR), Japan
Biography
Joseph Haldane is the Chairman and CEO of IAFOR. He is responsible for devising strategy, setting policies, forging institutional partnerships, implementing projects, and overseeing the organisation’s business and academic operations, including research, publications and events.
Dr Haldane holds a PhD from the University of London in 19th-century French Studies, and has had full-time faculty positions at the University of Paris XII Paris-Est Créteil (France), Sciences Po Paris (France), and Nagoya University of Commerce and Business (Japan), as well as visiting positions at the French Press Institute in the University of Paris II Panthéon-Assas (France), The School of Journalism at Sciences Po Paris (France), and the School of Journalism at Moscow State University (Russia).
Dr Haldane’s current research concentrates on post-war and contemporary politics and international affairs, and since 2015 he has been a Guest Professor at The Osaka School of International Public Policy (OSIPP) at Osaka University, where he teaches on the postgraduate Global Governance Course, and Co-Director of the OSIPP-IAFOR Research Centre, an interdisciplinary think tank situated within Osaka University.
A Member of the World Economic Forum’s Expert Network for Global Governance, Dr Haldane is also a Visiting Professor in the Faculty of Philology at the University of Belgrade (Serbia), a Visiting Professor at the School of Business at Doshisha University (Japan), and a Member of the International Advisory Council of the Department of Educational Foundations at the College of Education of the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (USA).
From 2012 to 2014, Dr Haldane served as Treasurer of the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan (Chubu Region) and he is currently a Trustee of the HOPE International Development Agency (Japan). He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society in 2012, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts in 2015.
Masao Hosoo
President (11th Generation), Hosoo Corporation
Biography
Born in Kyoto in 1953, Masao Hosoo graduated from Doshisha University’s School of Economics in 1975 and joined ITOCHU Corporation thereafter. After being seconded to Nortons in Milan, Italy in 1978, he returned to Japan and joined Hosoo Corporation in 1982. He took the posts of representative director and president of Hosoo Corporation in 2000. Mr Hosoo produced a kimono show at Japan Week in Prague, Czech Republic, in 2002 and he was involved in the planning of the Kyoto Premium project from its inception in 2005. He has displayed products every year at the Maison et Objet trade fair in Paris, France, from 2006 onward. He started a business in collaboration with the Yogyakarta Sultanate in Indonesia in 2005.
Mr Hosoo took a lecturer’s post at Doshisha Business School from 2007. In 2011, he ramped up exports of textiles which make use of Nishijin-ori techniques and materials. In 2012, he opened a combined workshop and showroom in Kyoto called House of Hosoo, and he also opened a showroom in Soho, New York, in 2013. He holds the post of deputy chairman of the Kyoto Association of Corporate Executives.
細尾真生（ほそお まさお）
１９５３年京都市生まれ。７５年同志社大学経済学部卒業後、伊藤忠商事㈱入社。
７８年イタリア・ミラノのノートンズ社に出向。８２年帰国後㈱細尾入社。２０００年
㈱細尾代表取締役社長に就任。０５年「京都プレミアム」プロジェクトに初年度より
参画し、０６年よりパリの「メゾン・エ・オブジェ」見本市等に出品。海外市場展開を始める。１１年から西陣織の技術と素材を活用した広幅織物の開発に成功し輸出事業を本格的に開始。１２年織物工房とショールームが一体となった「HOUSE OF HOSOO」を開設。１３年ニューヨーク・ソーホーにショールームを開設。織物の可能性を追求し、様々な先端技術との融合により商品開発を進め、世界に展開している。
（一社）京都経済同友会理事。
Dr Yoshiaki Ishii
Director, Science, Technology and Innovation Bureau, Cabinet Office, Japan
Biography
Since getting his start at the government's Small and Middle Enterprise Agency, Dr Yoshiaki Ishii has shaped his career almost exclusively around supporting young companies and enhancing innovation. Now, he is the director of the Cabinet Office and responsible for determining how to execute the government's mission of supporting deep tech start-ups and creating an innovation ecosystem. Previously, he served as director of the New Policy Office, Economic and Industrial Policy Bureau, METI. He has demonstrated expertise in Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SME), and Venture Business Policy, Industrial Organisation, and Innovation Policy. Dr Ishii earned his PhD from Waseda University, in 2012, after completing an MBA at Aoyama Gakuin, in 2000.
Senior Managing Executive Officer, Nestle Japan Ltd
Biography
Masafumi Ishibashi joined Nestle Japan Ltd. in 1985 and started his career in the sales division. After two years experience at the Nestle Rowntree Div., Nestle UK, in 1992 he became Brand Manager in the Marketing Department for Nestle Mackintosh K.K (currently the Confectionery Business Group, Nestle Japan Ltd.). Subsequently, he spent two years in Switzerland at the Confectionery Strategic Business Unit, Nestle S.A. before taking the Marketing Manager's position in Nestle Confectionery K.K. in 2005, later making a success of the "KIT KAT Juken Campaign". In 2009, Masafumi Ishibashi took up the post of Managing Executive Officer, Communications & Marketing Excellence Division, Nestle Japan Ltd., and later moved to Chief Marketing Officer in 2012. From 2017, he has served as a Senior Managing Executive Officer.
Yoko Ishikura
Professor Emeritus, Hitotsubashi University, Japan
Biography
Yoko Ishikura is an independent consultant for global strategy and global talent, she is currently serving as a director of Shiseido Group, and Nissin Foods Holdings. Previously, she has served as an independent director at several companies, including Japan Post, Mitsui OSK Lines, and Fujitsu. In addition, she is also an Executive Member of the Council for Science and Technology Policy and currently a Member of the Global Future Council at the World Economic Forum.
Previously, Yoko has been a professor at the Keio University’s Graduate School of Media Design, at Hitotsubashi University’s Graduate School of International Corporate Strategy, and at Aoyama Gakuin University in Tokyo. Prior to her academic career, she was a consultant at McKinsey & Company, Inc., Japan. Yoko received her MBA from Darden School, University of Virginia and her DBA from Harvard Business School.
Zen Priest & Vice Abbot, Shunkoin Temple, Kyoto, Japan
Biography
Reverend Takafumi Kawakami is a Zen priest and the vice abbot at Shunkoin Temple in Kyoto. Currently, he teaches Zen philosophy and mindfulness to various groups, including business schools and corporations and conducts positive computing projects and developing well-being programs with biofeedback researchers and neuroscientists. He is also a devoted husband and father.
His travels and talks have brought him to the likes of MIT, Brown University, TEDxKyoto & Ideo.
Mandali Khalesi
Global Head of Automated Driving Mobility and Innovation, Toyota Motor Corporation
Biography
Mandali Khalesi is Global Head of Automated Driving Mobility and Innovation at Toyota Motor Corporation, and General Manager of Toyota's Advanced R&D and Engineering Company. He is a former Chair of ITS Japan's Automated Driving Support Center working group, supporting the development of automated driving mobility to benefit local communities in the regions outside the Tokyo metropolis.
Originally a Masters graduate in Astrophysics from University College London, Mandali moved to Japan in 1999 working in IT for local government and software companies. In 2005 he established Japan's first location-based mobile advertising business for luxury brands in a traditional Japanese house complete with moss garden in downtown Tokyo. After the receipt of multiple awards, such as being named one of the top tech entrepreneurs in Asia, in 2008 he moved to Europe to work on developing location-based software products at groundbreaking companies such as TomTom NV, Binatone Telecom PLC and Nokia OY. He returned to Japan in 2014 to head up the Asia-Pacific Automotive products business for Nokia HERE, later acquired by a consortium of premium automakers Daimler, Audi and BMW.
David Milstein
Partner, Head of Japan, Eight Roads Ventures
Biography
David re-joined Eight Roads Ventures in 2012 to build the venture capital business for FIL in Japan. Previously, from 2005 to 2012, as Vice President of the Interactive Media Group at the Walt Disney Company in Japan, he wrote the business plan, started and then led the team that created the Disney Mobile on Softbank MVNO (mobile carrier business). Following this, he was promoted to General Manager of the Interactive Media Group where he was responsible for Disney Mobile. As GM, he oversaw the expansion of Disney Mobile to include Docomo. Earlier in his career David was a founding partner at Japan Transaction Partners, and worked in finance and business development at Asahi Glass.
Jin Song Montesano
Director, Senior Managing Director, Chief Public Affairs Officer, LIXIL Corporation
Biography
Jin Song Montesano is Executive Officer and Senior Managing Director of the LIXIL Group. She leads a diverse global team responsible for corporate communications, corporate responsibility, investor relations, and external affairs. Jin also pioneered and oversees LIXIL’s first global social business, called SATO, a unique, award-winning start-up that innovates and commercialises sanitation solutions for Bottom-of-the-Pyramid (BoP) consumers. In 2017, she was appointed to oversee LIXIL’s Tokyo 2020 Olympic sponsorship activities.
Since joining LIXIL in 2014, Jin has built from scratch a global, cross-functional team in Tokyo, supporting HQ, and expanded LIXIL’s public affairs agenda with newly built teams in Asia, Europe, and the Americas. Together, the global public affairs group has developed and delivered key initiatives such as LIXIL’s sustainability agenda, including its unique initiative to tackle global sanitation & hygiene, and the integration of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) principles and commitments into its corporate strategy and reporting. She is a Board Director of the LIXIL Corporation, GROHE AG Supervisory Board, and the Permasteelisa Group S.p.A.
Prior to joining LIXIL, Jin built and held global and regional leadership roles in strategic communications, policy and government affairs for GlaxoSmithKline, General Electric, and Kraft Foods. She holds a Master in Public Affairs (MPA International Relations) from Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, a BA (English Literature) from Columbia University, and a Certificate in Public Policy from the Graduate School of Public Policy, UC Berkeley.
ジン・ソン・モンテサーノ
株式会社LIXILグループ 執行役専務 広報・IR・渉外・コーポレートレスポンシビリティ担当、株式会社LIXILグループ LIXIL Water Technology Chief Public Affairs Officer (CPAO)、株式会社LIXIL 取締役 専務役員 Chief Public Affairs Officer (CPAO)
Chief Senior Economist, Japan Research Institute, Japan
Biography
Kosuke Motani joined the Development Bank of Japan in 1988 and currently serves as Chief senior Economist at Japan Research Institute. Motani has been known as "The Top Figure in Japan in the Field of Demography and Regional Economy Promotion” in creating and presenting strategies for helping national and local governments, private enterprises and NPOs toward economic prosperity and business success. He is the author of such best-sellers as Defure no Shotai (“Silver Tsunami” or “Non-monetary deflation in Japan") and Satoyama Capitalism.
Motani graduated from the University of Tokyo with a BA in Law and acquired an MBA from Columbia University.
Shuji Nakagawa is a third-generation master craftsman of traditional wooden pails, called ki-oke, in Japanese. He is devoted to connecting this traditional craft to the future through the language of tacit knowledge craftsmen have handed down from one generation to the next. By collaborating with designers around the world, including creating champagne coolers for Dom Pérignon, he is continually exploring new uses for his craftsmanship. His remarkable works are currently stored in London’s Victoria and Albert Museum, as well as the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris.
Born in 1965, Rumiko Obata is a fifth generation sake brewer of Sado Island’s famed Manotsuru sake. After graduating from Keio University’s Faculty of Law, she remained in Tokyo to join Nippon Herald Pictures (now known as Kadokawa) in its Promotion Division and oversaw promotions for Hollywood films including Basic Instinct and Léon: The Professional. In 1995 she returned to Sado to work for the family brewery. She is currently the Executive Vice President of Obata Shuzo and is the mother of two daughters. In 2014, she started the School Brewery Project which has brought life back to an abandoned elementary school on Sado Island. In May 2017, she was nominated for Forbes Japan’s Local Innovator Award 2017. In December 2017, she appeared on NHK World’s “Direct Talk”. She is a Mistress of Sake Tasting (appointed by the Brewing Society of Japan), a member of the Japan Sake and Shochu Makers Association’s Demand Development Committee, and has sat on the The Council for Food, Agriculture and Rural Area Policies (a temporary appointment). She is also the author of a book about the School Brewery Project titled, Gakko Gura no Tokubetsu Jugyou – Sado kara kangaeru Shimaguni Nippon no Mirai (Nikkei Business Publications).
General Manager, Business Creation Dept., Kirin Company, Ltd.
Biography
Tamaki Sano joined Kirin in 1994 and has spent most of her career in Marketing, and Product and Brand Development. In 2001, she developed the alcopop RTD brand “Kirin Hyoketsu” and played a key role in brand management and innovation. Sano managed the Hyoketsu brand for eight years, making it the number one alcopop brand in Japan.
After completing her executive MBA at MIT, in 2009, Sano served in the Strategic Planning Department for Merger & Acquisition planning. In 2010, she was appointed as International Innovation Manager in Lion Dairy and Drinks (Melbourne, Australia), responsible for marketing and innovation in South East Asia and Australia.
In 2013, Sano returned to Kirin Company’s Strategic Branding Department to work on corporate branding across Kirin Group.
In 2016, she was appointed as GM of the Business Creation Department and was tasked with planning and starting new businesses for Kirin Group. Sano's mission is to create new businesses for Kirin Holdings in the health and well-being industry across Kirin Group, including the pharmaceutical company, Kyowa Hakko Kirin Group (including Kyowa Hakko Kirin group which is a pharmaceutical company).
Sano received her BA in social psychology from the University of Tokyo, in 1994, and her MBA through the Sloan Fellows Program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in 2009.
Haruko Satoh is Specially Appointed Professor at the Graduate School of Engineering Science in charge of CAREN (Osaka University Centre for the Advancement of Research and Education Exchange Networks in Asia) and also lecturer at the Osaka School of International Public Policy (OSIPP), where she ran the MEXT Reinventing Japan project on “Peace and Human Security in Asia (PAHSA)” with six Southeast Asian and four Japanese universities. She is also the President of the The Asian Political and International Studies Association (APISA).
In the past she has worked at the Japan Institute of International Affairs (JIIA), Chatham House, and Gaiko Forum. Her interests are primarily in state theory, Japanese nationalism and identity politics. Recent publications include: “Rethinking Security in Japan: In Search of a Post-‘Postwar’ Narrative” in Jain & Lam (Eds), Japan’s Strategic Challenges in a Changing Regional Environment (World Scientific, 2012); “Through the Looking-glass: China’s Rise as Seen from Japan”, (co-authored with Toshiya Hoshino), Journal of Asian Public Policy, Vol. 5, No. 2, pp. 181–198 (July 2012); “Post-3.11 Japan: A Matter of Restoring Trust?”, ISPI Analysis No. 83 (December 2011); “Legitimacy Deficit in Japan: The Road to True Popular Sovereignty” in Kane, Loy & Patapan (Eds), Political Legitimacy in Asia: New Leadership Challenges (Palgrave Macmillan, 2011), “Japan: Re-engaging with China Meaningfully” in Tang, Li & Acharya (Eds), Living with China: Regional States and China through Crises and Turning Points, (Palgrave Macmillan, 2009).
Professor Haruko Satoh is a member of IAFOR’s Academic Governing Board. She is Chair of the Politics, Law & International Relations section of the International Academic Advisory Board.
Kei Shimada
Director of Innovation, IBM Innovation and Incubation Labs
Biography
For close to 20 years, Kei has devoted his time to helping Japanese companies with their mobile product and service strategies in expanding across borders and has likewise supported international companies as an expert at their market entry in Japan. As a long-term Director of Global Business Development at Dentsu, he focussed on both initiating and leading a group-wide innovation, going beyond the traditional advertising business to cultivate new business models. In 2017, he joined IBM as Director of Innovation and now heads the global Innovation & Incubation Labs.
Yoshie Sugai
Iyonoma Ryu Aikido Kyoto Dojo, Japan
Biography
Yoshie Sugai is “Shihan-dai” (7th Degree Black Belt) in Iyonoma Ryu Aikido, and the main instructor of the Iyonoma Ryu Aikido Kyoto Dojo, where she teaches both adult and children’s classes. Yoshie gained her leadership and customer service skills growing up in a famous restaurant family in Niigata, Japan, where her father was a celebrated master chef and her mother a restaurant manager. Yoshie has studied both Japanese and Western cultures, having learned Tea Ceremony, Ikebana, Japanese dance, and Kendo. She is certified as a secretary in Japan, is an instructor of Preserved Flower Arrangement, and is a Licensed Massage Therapist both in Japan and the United States. She learned Aikido overseas and in Japan over the last 18 years. For the past 16 years she has been researching how to effectively integrate the techniques and principles of Japanese culture and the Japanese Martial Arts into Leadership practices.
Professor Philip Sugai
Professor, Doshisha University, Graduate School of Business, Japan
Biography
Dr Sugai is a Professor of Marketing within Doshisha University's Graduate School of Business and a Senior Fellow at the OSIPP-IAFOR Research Center at Osaka University. Dr Sugai also served as a Visiting Professor for Stanford University from 2015–2017, where he taught Innovation in Japan at the Stanford Overseas campus in Kyoto. Prior to joining the Doshisha University faculty, Dr Sugai taught at the International University of Japan in Niigata where he also served as Dean and Associate Dean of the IUJ Business School for six years.
Dr Sugai is the author of two books, The Value Plan and The Six Immutable Laws of Mobile Business (John Wiley & Sons) and has published case studies with Ivey Business School Publishing on KITKAT Japan, AGL, Hatsune Miku and Walt Disney Internet Group.
He received his Doctorate degree from Waseda University and his MBA in Marketing and Operations Management from New York University’s Stern School of Business. He has worked as a marketing executive at American Express, Muze, Inc., and Lightningcast, Inc., and currently serves as a marketing advisor and marketing strategy consultant to companies both in Japan and globally.
Eikei Suzuki
Governor, Mie Prefecture, Japan
Biography
Eikei Suzuki is the Governor of Mie Prefecture, a post he has held since April 2011 (with re-election in 2015). A native of Hyogo Prefecture, he studied Economics at Tokyo University, and later joined the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) in April 1998. In recent years, Eikei Suzuki has served as a member of the Cabinet Office Declining Birth Rate Crisis Breakthrough Taskforce, as a member of the Central Disaster Management Council, as chairperson of the Special Committee for Risk Management / Disaster Control of National Governors’ Association, and as chairperson of the Japan Ninja Council. In addition, he was selected as one of the Young Global Leaders of the World Economic Forum in 2014.
Eikei Suzuki is married to Miho Takeda, an Olympic medalist in synchronised swimming, and together they have a son and daughter. He was delighted to receive the Yellow Ribbon Award for Best Father in June 2016.
David M. Uze
Co-Founder & CEO, Trillium Secure, Inc.
Biography
David M. Uze is the co-founder and CEO of Trillium Secure, Inc., a leader in cybersecurity and services for connected vehicles. Trillium provides a platform for hardening vehicles against cyber-attacks, and securely harvesting data from vehicles & fleets, then safely aggregating that data for multiple layers of downstream subscription value-add services like vehicle security as a service, digital forensics, UBI, preventative / proactive maintenance, telematics, car sharing and other services.
Yoshimasa HayashiMinister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology & Member of the House of Councillors, Japan
H.E. Dr Toshiya HoshinoAmbassador and Deputy Permanent Representative of Japan to the United Nations
Motoko ImadaCEO & Founder, INFOBAHN Inc.
Oki MatsumotoManaging Director & Chairman, Monex Group
Yuzaburo MogiHonorary Chief Executive Officer & Chairman of the Board, Kikkoman Corp., Japan
Dr Sachio SemmotoChairman, RENOVA, Inc.
Marco KoederDigital Business Director, J. Walter Thompson, Japan
Hiroko KoideBoard Director, Vicela Japan Co. Ltd.
David Hajime KornhauserDirector, Global Communications, Kyoto University, Japan
Peter LandersTokyo Bureau Chief, The Wall Street Journal
Ross RowburyPresident, Edelman Japan
Dan SloanFounder, Nissan Global Media Center
Geoffrey WexlerChief, International Division, Studio Ponoc, Japan
Ludovico CiferriPresident & Representative Director, Advanet
Dr Joseph HaldaneChairman & CEO, The International Academic Forum (IAFOR), Japan
Masao HosooPresident (11th Generation), Hosoo Corporation
Dr Yoshiaki IshiiDirector, Science, Technology and Innovation Bureau, Cabinet Office, Japan
Masafumi IshibashiSenior Managing Executive Officer, Nestle Japan Ltd
Yoko IshikuraProfessor Emeritus, Hitotsubashi University, Japan
Reverend Takafumi KawakamiZen Priest & Vice Abbot, Shunkoin Temple, Kyoto, Japan
Mandali KhalesiGlobal Head of Automated Driving Mobility and Innovation, Toyota Motor Corporation
David MilsteinPartner, Head of Japan, Eight Roads Ventures
Jin Song MontesanoDirector, Senior Managing Director, Chief Public Affairs Officer, LIXIL Corporation
Kosuke MotaniChief Senior Economist, Japan Research Institute, Japan
Shuji NakagawaPresident & Craftsman, Nakagawa Mokkougei, Japan
Rumiko ObataExecutive Vice President, Obata Sake Brewery
Tamaki SanoGeneral Manager, Business Creation Dept., Kirin Company, Ltd.
Professor Haruko SatohProfessor, OSIPP, Osaka University, Japan
Kei ShimadaDirector of Innovation, IBM Innovation and Incubation Labs
Yoshie SugaiIyonoma Ryu Aikido Kyoto Dojo, Japan
Professor Philip SugaiProfessor, Doshisha University, Graduate School of Business, Japan
Eikei SuzukiGovernor, Mie Prefecture, Japan
David M. UzeCo-Founder & CEO, Trillium Secure, Inc.
