STEVE MCPHERSON has worked at Bloomberg News in Tokyo for the last 14 years. During that time, he has covered the banks, the economy, sumo and baseball, and now runs the headline desk. The bureau has grown from about a dozen editors and a few reporters in one corner of the Yusen Building to a large staff occupying one floor of the Maru Building in front of Tokyo Station. Sales and support occupy a couple of other floors. In McPherson’s estimation, the fish take up a smaller portion of space than they used to. Before Bloomberg, McPherson spent a few years at the Mainichi Daily News, mostly editing and laying out the financial pages, and helping with a redesign that was forced by a switch from wax to Quark. And long, long ago, before coming to Japan, he wrote insurance application software. This is actually his second stint in Japan. He lived here until he was 4 years old. McPherson likes to travel to the Japanese countryside as much as possible. Unlike his mother and father, though, he has little time for long trips, and room prices have gone up a bit since 1964. Still he manages to make frequent short trips with his wife and two daughters to Kusatsu Onsen in Gunma Prefecture and the beaches in Chiba.

“From Tokyo – with Love.” That is the motto behind everything MARIA AHLGREN, a 29-year-old journalist from Sweden, delivers. From Tokyo, Maria reports on fashion, trends and lifestyle issues in the Japanese capital for Swedish magazines such as Damernas Varld and DV Mode. She is also a regular correspondent for leading Swedish morning papers Dagens Nyheter, Svenska Dagbladet and Sydsvenskan. Since moving to Tokyo three years ago to be close to the two loves of her life – husband Chris and Japanese pop culture – Ahlgren has gained a reputation as Sweden’s leading “Japanista” through her fashion and lifestyle blog, From Tokyo with Love, which is to be released in book form early next year. Before moving to Japan, Ahlgren was the editor of Swedish retro teen-magazine Starlet, and has worked for fashion magazines such as Cosmopolitan. Sometimes she swaps print for broadcasting and since January 2009 has been a regular contributor to the Tokyo Metpod podcast. When not writing herself, Maria spends most time reading the words of others. “Books have always played a major part of my life,” she says. “I have a tendency to engage as much in made-up characters as in my real-life friends, which is bad! When lost in a story, only horses can drag me out,” says Ahlgren, who is currently addicted to rock ’n’ roll biographies. If forced from her books or pen and pad, Maria enjoys karaoke, late-night dinners and spending way too much on odd Japanese beauty products.

TAKUJI KAWATA has been the international editor of the Yomiuri Shimbun since June 2009. Born in Aomori Prefecture in 1955, Kawata graduated from Tokyo University of Foreign Studies and joined Yomiuri Shimbun in 1978 as a reporter. He spent six years in the city news department and in 1990 was transferred to the international news department. Since then, Kawata has worked as bureau chief in Seoul (twice), Hong Kong and Taipei. He covered Chinese politics and the situation on the Korean Peninsula for a long time. From December 2006 to May 2009, he was in Beijing as China general bureau chief. He supervised a series of special reports titled “Expanding China” for the Yomiuri and covered the Sichuan earthquake and the Beijing Olympics.

YOSHIO HANADA joined the Yomiuri Shimbun in 1989 as a reporter. After working at a local bureau for four years in Yamagata Prefecture, he was transferred to the political news department, where he covered political news in Nagatacho. In 1997-98 he studied at Moscow State University and worked as a correspondent in Moscow from 1998 to 2002. He covered Russian politics and the Chechen war. After the events of Sept. 11, 2001, Hanada covered the “war on terror” in Afghanistan for several months, which was one of the most interesting parts of his career. From September 2004 to April 2008, he was posted to Singapore as an Asian news correspondent. Hanada covered major events such as the presidential election in Afghanistan, the assassination of Benazir Bhutto in Pakistan and the violence in East Timor. Since May 2009 he has been manager for international affairs as well as assistant international editor.

STATUS CHANGE (PROFESSIONAL/JOURNALIST ASSOCIATE TO REGULAR)
Sayuri Daimon, The Japan Times

REGULAR MEMBERS
Benjamin Parks, Freelance
Yohan Thilak Bandara, Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation

PROFESSIONAL/JOURNALIST ASSOCIATE MEMBERS
Masashi Takeuchi, Sao Paulo Shimbun

ASSOCIATE MEMBERS
Iwan Griffiths, PricewaterhouseCoopers Aarata
Shigeru Akiba, Ichiyoshi Securities Co., Ltd.
Taku Saitoh, Medical Corporation Toh-Sui-Kai
Masanori Sato, J-Will Partners Co., Ltd.
Yoshimasa Yamamoto, Yamamoto Accounting Office
Sachie Takahashi, Thought Equity Motion, Inc.
Mizuki Ito, Fujifilm Corporation

REINSTATEMENT (ASSOCIATE)
Goro Shintani, Isuzu Motors Limited