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Shuichi Tokura
Commissioner for Cultural AffairsRenowned as the Andrew Lloyd Webber of Japan, Commissioner TOKURA Shunichi boasts a prolific portfolio comprising over 1000 compositions, including chart-topping hits for Japanese pop luminaries like Pink Lady, Momoe Yamaguchi, and Linda Yamamoto. His accolades include multiple Japan Record Awards and Japan Music Awards, the Japanese equivalents of the Grammys. Throughout the 1980s, Commissioner Tokura diversified his work by contributing to TV dramas, movies, and stage productions on Broadway, London's West End, and domestically in Japan. Raised in West Germany, he attended American School and German high school. He is multilingual, fluent in English, German, and French.
Preceding his appointment as Commissioner for Cultural Affairs in 2021, Mr. Tokura was instrumental in revolutionizing the music industry both as a creator and as a leader. He served as the Chairman of the Japanese Society for Rights of Author, Composer, and Publishers (JASRAC), safeguarding copyrights for creators. On the global stage, he chaired the Asia-Pacific Music Creators Alliance (APMA) from 2016, unifying music creators' voices across 21 Asian countries to champion the protection, enforcement, and expansion of their rights and interests. In recognition of his contributions, the Japanese government honored Mr. Tokura as a Person of Cultural Merits in 2018.
Since assuming the role of commissioner and relocating the Agency for Cultural Affairs headquarters to Kyoto, Commissioner Tokura is strategically enhancing efforts to bolster and showcase Japanese culture both domestically and on the international stage.
During this luncheon program, Commissioner Tokura will discuss the initiatives and strategies he has implemented since assuming office as well as his vision to connecting the business, government and the cultural world.
Oki Matsumoto
CEO of Monex GroupOki started his career at Salmon Brothers in 1987. He moved to Goldman Sachs in 1990 and became a general partner in 1994 at the age of 30. He became responsible for trading, risk management, and capital markets businesses in Asia. In 1997, he launched a Special Situation Group, which later grew into one of the most profitable units in Goldman Sachs worldwide.
In 1999 he founded Monex, Inc. with Sony and then established Monex Group, Inc. in 2004. Monex Group is now a major online financial institution that operates retail online brokerages in Japan, US, and China (including Hong Kong), as well as one of the largest digital asset exchanges in Japan, Coincheck. It also operates asset management companies including Japan Catalyst, an engagement investment advisory firm. Monex Group is listed on Prime Market of the Tokyo Stock Exchange where he is presently Chairman of the Board & Representative Executive Officer.
Oki was an outside director of the Tokyo Stock Exchange for five years, and has been actively involved in improving and reforming Japan's capital markets through participation in the government's governance reform councils and other committees. He was a Vice Chair of Human Rights Watch, and currently is an outside director of Mastercard Incorporated in the United States. Oki holds a B.A. in Law from Tokyo University.
Seiji Inagaki
Director, Chair of the Board at The Dai-ichi Life Insurance Company, Ltd.Seiji Inagaki is the Chair of the Board of Dai-ichi Life Holdings (DLHD) and Dai-ichi Life Insurance Co Ltd (DLIC) since April, 2023.
He joined The Dai-ichi Mutual Life Insurance Company (currently DLHD) in April 1986. He had been the President of both DLIC and DLHD since 2017, before he took his current position in 2023.
Currently, he also serves as a Principals Group member of GFANZ (Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero), its Japan Chapter Consultative Group Chair, as well as an Executive Board Vice Chair of BIAC (Business at OECD).
He has an MBA from Harvard Business School and Bachelor’s Degree in Economics from Keio University in Japan.
Keiko Tashiro
Deputy President at Daiwa Securities GroupMs. Tashiro began her career with the Daiwa Securities Group in 1986, following hergraduation from Waseda University with a BA in Political Science. She received an MBA fromStanford University in 1991. She has held various positions at Daiwa, including overseasassignments in Singapore, London, and New York. In Japan, in addition to her role as Headof Investor Relations (1999–2005), she spent six years in the retail division of the Group. Afterreturning from the US, she was appointed of Head of Overseas Operations in 2016 andDeputy President in 2019. She has served as Deputy President, Executive Head of OverseasOperations, Head of SDGs and Head of Think Tank from April 2022.
She also serves amongst other roles as Vice Chairman at the Japan Association of CorporateExecutive and Trustee of the IFRS foundation.
Mitsunobu Koshiba
Co-Founder of Cdots LLC ChairMitsunobu Koshiba joined Japan Synthetic Rubber Co., Ltd. (now JSR Corporation) in 1981, where he was engaged in the development of semiconductor materials at the Tokyo Research Laboratory. In 1990, he was transferred to Silicon Valley, U.S.A., where he worked to establish the semiconductor materials business in the U.S. market at JSR Micro Inc. After returning to Japan in 2002, he served as General Manager of the Electronic Materials Division and Director of the Fine Chemicals Division before being appointed President and Representative Director in 2009. He served as Chairman Emeritus till the end of June 2023. Since 2019, he has served on the Committee on Economic Security and Advanced Technology at the Keizai Doyukai (Japan Association of Corporate Executives).
Jesper Koll
Founding Member at Asia Society JapanJesper Koll has been researching and investing in Japan since becoming a resident in 1986. Over the past two decades, Jesper has been consistently recognized as one of the top Japan strategists/economists, having worked as Chief Strategist and Head of Research for U.S. investment banks J.P. Morgan and Merrill Lynch. He currently serves as Expert Director for the Monex Group and the Japan Catalyst Fund (Japan’s 1st retail investor based corporate engagement/activist fund). His analysis and insights have earned him a position on several Japanese government and corporate advisory committees, including Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike’s Advisory Board. Jesper serves as Board Director of OIST, the Okinawa Institute for Science and Technology and is a Founder and Board Director of the Asia Society Japan and heads their Policy Committee. He is one of the few non-Japanese members of the Keizai Doyukai, the Japan Association of Corporate Executives; and serves on the board of several Japan-based start-ups. He has written three books in Japanese and, in 2021, created the acclaimed video/pod-cast series Japan - Capitalism that works. Jesper is an economist, angel-investor, patron; and yes, a Japan Optimist.
Junko Hibiya
Former President at International Christian UniversityJunko Hibiya is Professor Emerita of International Christian University (ICU), a pioneer of liberal arts education in Japan, established to cultivate globally minded citizens. She became President in 2012 at the university, the first woman to serve as President in the history of the institution. Before joining the administrative stream, she served as a professor of Sociolinguistics. Prior to her tenure at ICU, she was on the faculty of Keio University for fifteen years after receiving her Ph.D. in Linguistics from the University of Pennsylvania in 1988.
Since 2015 she has been a member of the Central Council for Education, a permanent advisory council in the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. She was also elected to a Council Member of the Science Council of Japan (SCJ) 2020, advancing SCJ's international collaborations in her capacity as Secretary of the Committee for International Affairs. From October 2023, Dr. Hibiya serves as Vice President in charge of International Activities of the Science Council of Japan since October 2023.
Carol Gluck
George Sansom Professor of History at Columbia UniversityCarol Gluck is the George Sansom Professor of History Emerita at Columbia University, specializing in the history of modern Japan, international history, and public memory. Her books include Japan's Modern Myths: Ideology in the Late Meiji Period; Words in Motion: Toward a Global Lexicon; the forthcoming Past Obsessions: World War II in History and Memory; in Japanese, Rekishi de kangaeru [Thinking with the Past](2007) and Sensō no kioku [War memory](2019). Former President of the Association for Asian Studies, she is a member of the Board of Japan Society and the Trustees Emeriti of Asia Society.
Naoko Sugita
Advisor to the Director of Earth Observation Research Center, Japan Aerospace Exploration AgencyDr. Sugita has more than 20 years of experience in the space sector. She has held numerous roles and led several projects in fostering innovation with the private sector, international cooperation and strategic research for the executives. Among the projects initiated includes collaboration with a startup and local government, which later won the Prime Minister's award of the Japan Open Innovation Prize.
She is now serving as the Japan lead for Earth Observing Dashboard in cooperation with NASA and ESA, to make information from satellites available to decision-makers and the general public. She is also promoting public-private-academia partnerships through the Consortium for Satellite Earth Observation (CONSEO).
Ds. Sugita earned her bachelor’s degree from the Tokyo University of Foreign studies in 1993, and then went on to earn a Master of Law from Hitotsubashi University in 1995 and then subsequently a Master in Public Administration at the Harvard Kennedy School in 2002. She ultimately received a doctorate from the National Graduate Institute of Policy Studies in 2010.
In addition to JAXA, she has worked at the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Technology, Science, and Technology. Currently, at JAXA, she is the Advisor to the Director of the Earth Observation Research Center. Having served as the Director of Gender Equality Office of JAXA, she continues to support the succeeding Work-Life Support and Diversity Office.
Kathy Matsui
General Partner at MPowerKathy is co-founder and General Partner of MPower Partners, Japan’s first ESG-integrated global venture capital fund. MPower Partners’ mission is to empower entrepreneurs providing tech-enabled solutions to societal challenges and to drive sustainable growth through ESG integration. Kathy previously served as the former Vice Chair of Goldman Sachs Japan and Chief Japan Equity Strategist. Her groundbreaking ʻWomenomicsʼ research spurred the Japanese government to promote gender diversity, and she has advised corporations on governance and diversity best practices.
Kathy serves as an external board director of Fast Retailing Inc., adjunct professor at Kyoto University’s Graduate School of Management, co-chair of the Board of the US-Japan Council, board member of the Asian University for Women (AUW) Support Foundation, director of the Fast Retailing Foundation, member of the Council on Foreign Relations, The Nature Conservancy Asia Pacific Council, Yamauchi Foundation, the Bretton Woods Committee Advisory Council, Keizai Doyukai, the Japan Society Fund Against Breast Cancer, and the Mori Arts Museum Board of Trustees. In 2020, she published a best-selling Japanese book entitled "How to Nurture Female Employees."
Kathy earned an AB, magna cum laude, in Social Studies from Harvard University and an MA from Johns Hopkins University, School of Advanced International Studies. She conducted research on Japanese foreign policy at Kobe University Graduate School on a Rotary Scholarship.
Betsy Cohen
Global Vice Chair & Secretary at Asia Society ASPI Council MemberBetsy Z. Cohen is the Chairman of FinTech Masala. She is also founder of The Bancorp, where she served as the Chief Executive Officer from 1999 through 2014. She is a creator of financial businesses with over 30 years of experience in banking, real estate and financial law, as well as real estate lending, investing and development. Mrs. Cohen was the second female law professor on the east coast, teaching antitrust law and government regulation of business at Rutgers University Law School. She co-founded a Philadelphia law firm specializing in complex real estate and financial concerns.
In 1974 Mrs. Cohen founded Jefferson Bank in Pennsylvania where she served continuously as Chairman and CEO as well as Chairman and CEO of its holding company, Jeffbanks, Inc., the largest financial institution in Pennsylvania. In 1999, she founded The Bancorp, an FDIC-insured virtual bank providing services to small and mid-size businesses and their principals in the Philadelphia- Wilmington market area through its community bank Philadelphia Private Bank, and on private-label affinity group programs for organizations and institutions, including merchant card servicing.
Mrs. Cohen is the recipient of numerous awards, among them named in 1997 one of 50 leading female entrepreneurs of the world by the National Foundation for Women Business Owners, ranked in several years among the 25 outstanding Women Bankers and in 2009 named By US Banker as one of 25 Women to Watch.
Mrs. Cohen is affiliated with many corporate and non-profit boards, currently serving as Chairman of Fintech Masala; Vice Chairman, Executive Committee member and Secretary of Asia Society; Founding Member of the Asia Society Policy Institute; Trustee of The Brookings Institute; Honorary Trustee of the Metropolitan Museum of Art; and Treasurer, Managing Director, and Finance Committee member of The Metropolitan Opera.
Mrs. Cohen is a graduate of Bryn Mawr College and received a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Pennsylvania.
Paddy Jordan
Vice President of Human Resources, Japan & Korea at Coca-Cola CompanyPaddy Jordan is the Vice President of Human Resources, Japan & Korea, for the Coca-Cola Company. Paddy joined the Coca-Cola System in 2017. In 2018 he was appointed as the Vice President of Human Resources for their South Pacific Business, based in Sydney. He moved to Japan in 2019 to take on his current role.
Paddy is originally Irish, born in Dublin and hold a Bachelor of Business Studies Degree. He commenced his career in Corporate Banking, as a Banker, working for Allied Irish Banks plc. In 2001 he moved to Australia and continued his career in Financial Services in front line Customer roles before he changed his career when he moved into Compensation & Benefits. Paddy spent several years specializing in Compensation & Benefits, doing may roles including compensation analysis, consulting, and executive compensation design. He moved into Human Resources in 2010 working for National Australia Bank, before he moved to Coca-Cola.
Mitsuru Claire Chino
Attorney at Law (California)Mitsuru Claire Chino is a bilingual and bicultural (U.S. and Japan) senior business executive with a Fortune Global 500 company and an international lawyer with 30+ years’ experience. She was a partner of an international law firm prior to joining ITOCHU, a diversified industrials. With ITOCHU over the years, she has served as Global General Counsel, CEO of its North American operations as well as other senior executive positions.
She is a graduate of Smith College (B.A. cum laude) and Cornell Law School (J.D.), where she serves on the advisory board. She is also a classically trained singer who has studied voice at the Juilliard School of Music (Evening Division).
Soichiro Chiba
Asia 21 Class of 2023 / Founder and Chairman at ThousandleafSoichiro is the chairperson of Y7/Y20. He is the founder of Thousandleaf, an advisory and investment firm. He worked/s at Mitsubishi Corporation, a U.S Private Equity firm, the World Bank Group (YPP), and as an advisor to the Japanese government in multiple capacities. He received his MBA from Harvard Business School (as a Fulbright Scholar) and was recognized as Asia21.
Juli Sarkar
Digital PR Specialist / Delegation at 2022 Y7 Germany at 2023 Y20 IndiaJapanese delegation at the 2022 Y7 Germany and 2023 Y20 India. She is a digital PR specialist in a large tech company, and also a board member of padel association. Previously, she was a research associate detailing in reasonable accommodations for students and mental health in Tokyo University. She received her B.A. from Tokyo University.
Yuki Tokunaga
Delegation oat 2023 Y7 Japan / Founder & CEO of CulpediaJapanese delegation at the 2023 Y7 Japan. As culture enthusiast, he is the founder and CEO of Culpedia, an organization that exhibits traditional art with modern concept. He previously worked at Mitsui & Co and as a radio announcer at Sputnik. Graduated from Waseda University and studied at the graduate school of Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Sayo Hosoi
Delegation at 2023 Y20 India / Graduate Student at Nagoya University Graduate School of EducationJapanese delegation leader at the 2023 Y20 Summit India. Student at Nagoya University Graduate school of Education. She currently works as a policy advisor intern at Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry focusing on energy transition policies. She would be working at ERIA (Economic Research institute for ASEAN and East Asia) from April.
Danny Russel
Vice President at International Security and Diplomacy, ASPI- 15) "The U.S.-Japan Alliance: Built to Last?" ASPI and I-House Geoeconomics Institute Policy Program
Daniel Russel is Vice President for International Security and Diplomacy at the Asia Society Policy Institute (ASPI). Previously he served as a Diplomat in Residence and Senior Fellow with ASPI for a one-year term. A career member of the Senior Foreign Service at the U.S. Department of State, he most recently served as the Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs. Prior to his appointment as Assistant Secretary on July 12, 2013, Mr. Russel served at the White House as Special Assistant to the President and National Security Council (NSC) Senior Director for Asian Affairs. During his tenure there, he helped formulate President Obama’s strategic rebalance to the Asia Pacific region, including efforts to strengthen alliances, deepen U.S. engagement with multilateral organizations, and expand cooperation with emerging powers in the region.
Wendy Cutler
Vice President and Managing Director of Washington, D.C. Office, ASPI- 15) "The U.S.-Japan Alliance: Built to Last?" ASPI and I-House Geoeconomics Institute Policy Program
Wendy Cutler is Vice President at the Asia Society Policy Institute (ASPI) and the managing director of the Washington, D.C. office. In these roles, she focuses on leading initiatives that address challenges related to trade, investment, and innovation, as well as women’s empowerment in Asia. She joined ASPI following an illustrious career of nearly three decades as a diplomat and negotiator in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), where she also served as Acting Deputy U.S. Trade Representative. During her USTR career, she worked on a range of bilateral, regional, and multilateral trade negotiations and initiatives, including the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement, the Trans-Pacific Partnership, U.S.-China negotiations, and the WTO Financial Services negotiations. She has published a series of ASPI papers on the Asian trade landscape and serves as a regular media commentator on trade and investment developments in Asia and the world.
Kazuto Suzuki
Director & Group Head of Economic Security, Institute of Geoeconomics- 15) "The U.S.-Japan Alliance: Built to Last?" ASPI and I-House Geoeconomics Institute Policy Program
Kazuto Suzuki is Professor at the Graduate School of Public Policy at the University of Tokyo, Japan, and Director of the Institute of Geoeconomics at International House of Japan. He graduated from the Department of International Relations, Ritsumeikan University, and received Ph.D. from Sussex European Institute, University of Sussex, England. He has worked in the Fondation pour la recherche stratégique in Paris, France as assistant researcher and the Associate Professor at the University of Tsukuba from 2000 to 2008 and served as Professor of International Politics at Hokkaido University until 2020. He served as an expert in the Panel of Experts for Iranian Sanction Committee under the United Nations Security Council from 2013 to July 2015. He currently serves many advisory committees of the government of Japan, inter alia, the National Space Policy Committee of the Cabinet Office, the Government of Japan, and the President of Japan Association of International Security and Trade. His research focuses on the conjunction of science/technology and international relations; subjects including space policy, non-proliferation, export control and sanctions. His recent work includes Space and International Politics (2011, in Japanese, awarded Suntory Prize for Social Sciences and Humanities), Policy Logics and Institutions of European Space Collaboration (2003) and many others.
Yuichi Hosoya
Professor of International Politics at Keio University- 15) "The U.S.-Japan Alliance: Built to Last?" ASPI and I-House Geoeconomics Institute Policy Program
Yuichi Hosoya is professor of international politics at Keio University, Tokyo and Director of Research of API, the International House of Japan. Professor Hosoya was a member of the Advisory Board at Japan’s National Security Council (NSC) (2014-2016). He was also a member of Prime Minister’s Advisory Panel on Reconstruction of the Legal Basis for Security (2013-14), and Prime Minister’s Advisory Panel on National Security and Defense Capabilities (2013). Professor Hosoya studied international politics at Rikkyo (BA), Birmingham (MIS), and Keio (Ph.D.). He was a visiting professor and Japan Chair (2009–2010) at Sciences-Po in Paris (Institut d’Études Politiques) and a visiting fellow (Fulbright Fellow, 2008–2009) at Princeton University.
Takako Hikotani
Senior Fellow at ASPI- 15) "The U.S.-Japan Alliance: Built to Last?" ASPI and I-House Geoeconomics Institute Policy Program
Takako Hikotani is Professor at Gakushuin University International Centre and the senior policy fellow at Asia Society. Professor Hikotani has taught at the National Defence Academy of Japan and Columbia University, where she holds an Adjunct Senior Research Scholar affiliation. Her research focuses on civil-military relations and Japanese domestic politics, Japanese foreign policy, and comparative civil-military relations. Her English publications include "The Japanese Diet and defense policy-making," International Affairs, 94:1, July, 2018; "Trump's Gift to Japan: Time for Tokyo to Invest in the Liberal Order," Foreign Affairs, September/October 2017; "Japan's New Executive Leadership: How Electoral Rules Make Japanese Security Policy" (with Margarita Estevez-Abe and Toshio Nagahisa), in Francis Rosenbluth and Masaru Kohno eds, Japan in the World (Yale University Press, 2009) and "Civilian Control and Civil-Military Gaps in the United States, Japan, and China" (with Peter Feaver and Shaun Narine), Asian Perspective, 29:1, March 2006.