Issue:
Regular Member
Jiro Konishi
Jiji Press
Summary
Total 13 years of experience as correspondent of Jiji Press.
Tota1 6 years of experience as staff writer of foreign news section
Tcta1 9 years of experience as foreign news desk.
Jiji Press: April 1993 - present
- Foreign news Section staff writer (April 1993-September 1994, April 1998-March 2000, April 2004-March 2005, April 2008-March 2010)
- Yamagata bureau staff writer (September 1994-March 1998)
- Sao Paulo bureau correspondent (April 2000-March 2004)
- Kobe bureau staff writer (April 2005-March 2008)
- Paris bureau correspondent (April 2010-February 2014)
- Foreign news desk at headquarter (March 2014-January 2017, November 2021-present)
- Washington bureau correspondent (January 2017-January 2018)
- Washington bureau Chief (February 2018-November 2021)
- Director of foreign news Section (April 2024-)
Associate Member
Elliot Conti
Prometheus Foundation
Elliot Conti was born and raised in Ohio, USA and graduated from Denison University's department of East Asian Studies in 2012. He completed his masters in sociology at Osaka City University (currently Osaka Metropolitan University) in 2017.
Following that, he helped establish the non-profit Global Aichi in Nagoya and served as the first General Manager for just over three years. In 2020, he joined KCJ GROUP, Inc. and played an integral role in establishing KidZania Fukuoka in 2022.
Elliot is the CEO of Conti Global Consulting LLC, which he founded in April of 2024, in addition to serving as Executive Director of the Prometheus Foundation and General Manager at Global Village Yurakucho House. He also taught a course on international marketing as a part-time lecturer at Nagoya University from 2019 to 2021.
Featured in:
・Wedge「新時代に挑む30人」 2019年
・The Japan Times 2019年
Associate Member
Yanfang Emma Cherian
Oxleyan Holdings K.K.
Yanfang (Emma) Cherian is a seasoned finance professional with over two decades of experience in the U.S. and Singapore. She is the founder and managing director of Oxleyan Holdings, which she established in Singapore in 2011. Previously, she led the Convertible Securities team at Bank of America's asset management division in New York, where she earned the prestigious Lipper Award for Best Convertible Securities Fund over 10 years. Prior to that she was a Vice President at Putnam Investments (now part of Franklin Templeton) in Boston, where she was responsible for developing quantitative methodologies for market risk management.
Emma serves on the board of China Asset Management (Hong Kong) Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of China Asset Management, and acts as an advisor to Endowus, a digital wealth advisory platform for Singapore's national retirement fund (CPF). She divides her time between Tokyo, Shanghai, New York and Kuala Lumpur, where she and her husband also own a farm.
Her academic background includes a dual Bachelor's degree from Shanghai International Studies University, a Master's degree from the University of Notre Dame, and All But Dissertation (ABD) status in the Finance Ph.D. program at Boston College.
Associate Member
Douglas Montgomery
Global Connects Media LLC
Douglas is a 20+year veteran research and analyst in the retail and entertainment space.
During this time, he worked for Walmart Stores in Global Merchandising, aiding in integrating newly acquired overseas retail chains into Walmart. After this, Montgomery worked 15 years for Warner Bros. in 3 different countries (U.S., Japan, and U.K.) as a consultant / analyst for both WB management and their major retail partners.
Montgomery managed the worldwide team that reported to the global accounts. In 2021, Douglas founded "Global Connects Media", where he served as President and CEO. Global Connects Media aids its clients in gaining access to the world entertainment and retail market through strategic insights and research. Douglas co-founded and produced "Global Stage Hollywood" Film Festival, focused on providing a platform for diverse groups around the world.
Douglas earned an MBA (Dean's List) from the University of Southern California. Prior to USC, Douglas completed a BComm from the University of Alberta. Douglas splits his time between Los Angeles and Tokyo.
Associate Member
Toshiko Kawanami
HR Consultant/Director of Int'l Cooperation Organization for SMEs in Asia
Toshiko "Nami" Kawanami has worked for over five decades with a variety of global companies including Rio Tinto-Zinc, Du Pont Japan, Tokyo Bay Hilton, Reebok International, ACE Insurance in Tokyo, Philadelphia and Beijing, and the British Embassy Tokyo until she retired in June 2011.
Since her early days at Du Pont she always placed an intensive interest in developing the potential of people as well as in helping organizations become successful globally. Through her long and extensive experience, she explored various HR issues which were fundamental to management and operations in multi-national organizations.
She became an independent HR consultant in 2011 and has served until today for a number of global organizations with main focus on helping build solid HR foundations internally and make necessary organizational changes happen.
In addition, she has been facilitating leadership seminars mainly for corporate executives from Asian countries through the "Association for Overseas Technical Cooperation and Sustainable Partnership." Her specialties in the seminars is introducing representative great leaders of Japan who created or transformed industries and changed Japan in the process.
She worked as a club staff member for 15 months until March of this year, and this led her to decide to become an associate member in order to contribute even more to the FCCJ.
Associate Member
Naoko Nishijima
ANA Catering Service Co., Ltd.
Associate Member
Kazuhisa Okamoto
Japan Airlines Co., Ltd.
- 1990-1994: Waseda University, Faculty Political Economy
- 1994-1997: Civil Aviation College
- 1997-Japan Air Lines
Associate Member
Kumiko Sekiguchi
Prime International Co., Ltd.
Kumiko Sekiguchi is the CEO President of Prime International Co., Ltd. & Ex. Ltd.
After graduating from university, I launched Prime International Co., Ltd. as a professional conference organizer in Tokyo in 1989. Our business vision is to organize numerous events and conferences that exceed our clients’ expectations, not only in Japan but also worldwide, as we strive to provide the highest quality service for our clients.
Our main clients: Cabinet Office / Government of Japan / Ministry of Internal Affair / Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency(JAXA) / National Institute of Information and The University of Tokyo / Kyoto University / Tokai University / Prectural University of Kumamoto / St. Marianna University School of Medicin e/ The Consumer Goods Forum / Ajinomoto Co., Ltd./ Teraoka Seiko Co., Ltd., / Suntory Holdings Limited / Japan Travel Bureau (JTB) etc.
Since 2000, I have been managing the career of Japanese film composer Shigeru Umebayashi, who is known worldwide for his work on the film "In the Mood for Love" directed by Wong Kar Wai.
Associate Member
Koji Tashiro
NTT Docomo, Inc.
Koji TASHIRO was appointed Senior Executive Vice President of NTT DOCOMO GLOBAL, Inc. and Senior Vice President of NTT DOCOMO, Inc. responsible for DOCOMO Group Global Business and Investment in July 2024. NTT DOCOMO, Japan's largest communications company, provides innovative, convenient and secure ICT services for consumers, businesses and governments. NTT DOCOMO GLOBAL is Global business operating holding company as a brain and arm of NTT DOCOMO.
Prior to joining NTT DOCOMO, Mr. Tashiro served as General Manager of Industry DX Dept of Mitsubishi Corporation (MC). He also was Supervisory Board Director at HERE Technologies. MC, Japan's largest trading and investment company, is a globally integrated enterprise that develops and operates businesses jointly with a global network of approximately 1,700 group companies. HERE Technologies a leading location platform company with a strong global footprint.
In private life, he grew up in Latin America and worked in China, Southeast Asia, and Europe. He loves Golf, Tennis, Rugby and relax journey with family. Looking forward to seeing you all!
Associate Member
Natsuki Uota
All Nippon Airways Co., Ltd.
Mar 1993 Graduated from Kobe University
Business Experience
- Sep 1993 Inflight Services, Narita Airport Office
- Aug 1994 Inflight Services, Kansai Airport Branch
- May 1999 Sales Planning, Osaka Branch
- Apr 2001 Sales Planning, Fukuoka Branch
- Apr 2005 Inflight Quality Planning,
Inflight Services Headquarters - Apr 2007 Manager, Human Resources
- Apr 2010 Senior Manager, CSR Promotion
- Apr 2015 Director, Corporate communications
- Apr 2019 Senior Director, IHG・ANA・Hotels Group Japan
- Apr 2022 Senior Director, Corporate communications
- Apr 2024 ANA HOLDINGS INC.
Vice President, Corporate communications and Branding
ALL NIPPON AIRWAYS CO.,LTD.
Vice President, Corporate communications
Reinstatement (Associate Member)
Gary Bremermann
PowerUp Solutions K.K.
Born and raised in San Diego, CA, my entire career has been focused on business in Japan.
After founding and exiting an international trading company with offices in LA, Tokyo, and London I settled back in Tokyo and discovered the wonderful world of recruiting in 2001.
My recruitment focus over the last two decades has been on introducing bilingual advertising & marketing professionals to international firms (both "gaishi" and Japanese) here in Japan.
Having worked with a coach in the 90's, I became CCF certified in 2007 and added coaching to my practice to further enable me to achieve my life's mission--to help people find work they LOVE.
In 2023 I launched an e-learning course (Career Kaizen Course) and community (Happy Mondays) for bilingual professionals in Japan. It combines both my recruiting and coaching practices to help give people the information they need to accelerate their career growth and find more joy in the work they do.
In my spare time, I'm an enthusiastic supporter of a global non-profit, Room to Read, which is focused on childhood literacy and gender equality in education.
I've recently rejoined FCCJ and I'm excited about contributing to the future of the club.
Reinstatement (Associate Member)
Tatsuya Fujisaku
Nikkon Holdings Co., Ltd.
Reinstatement (Associate Member)
Kyoko Kanehira
Chugoku Transport & Tourism Bureau
- Managing Director, Kokusai Tourism Marketing Inc.,
- Tourism Advisor, MLIT, Japan Tourism Agency
- Manager, PHP Hiroshima Matsushita Konosuke Management Institute
- Ambassador, Hiroshima Mazda, Orizuru Tower
- Ambassador, Tourism Takehara
- Advisor, Gotcha Co., Ltd.
Born in Tokyo, Japan, Kyoko holds a degree from Sydney Australia. Starting from her assignment in the marketing division at Tokyo Disney Resort, she has dedicated her career in the tourism industry, building up a wealth of experience in both outbound and inbound tourism. Her significant roles include General Manager for Japan and Korea at VisitBritain, Head of Dubai Tourism, Regional Director of Destination NSW and Tourism Victoria, and Brand Development Manager for Tourism Australia.
She eventually returned to Disney to contribute to the opening of Tokyo DisneySea, later becoming the Marketing Manager for Walt Disney Company Japan.
In the realm of inbound tourism, Kyoko spent four years in Hiroshima during the COVID-19 pandemic as COO of the Setouchi DMO (Destination Marketing Management Organization). She was subsequently appointed as the first Director of Hiroshima Mazda's Orizuru Tower, where she focused on the spouse program and outreach programs for the Hiroshima G7 Summit 2023.
Furthermore, at the Japan National Tourism Organization, she was an advisor on national branding and the Rugby World Cup. Currently, she advises the MLIT Chugoku District Transport Bureau and serves as PR Ambassador for Takehara City, Hiroshima.
Kyoko has also held a role as Deputy Counsellor of Tokyo Chuo Ward to complete their 10-year tourism vision.
With a diverse portfolio of experiences, Kyoko is committed to fostering a sustainable future for tourism in Japan, where visitors and residents can thrive together in harmony, where connections flourish between the regions & Tokyo, summing up to make Japan a choice destination for the World traveller.
Reinstatement (Associate Member)
Toshio Kurino
Meikyo Trading Co., Ltd.
Education: 1985, Graduated KEIO UNIVERSITY, Faculty of Law, Department of Political Science.
I started my business career at Nissho Iwai Corporation, a general trading company, upon graduation from university in March 1985.
I spent the first three years of my career at Nissho Iwai in the Credit & Legal Department, and in 1988 I was reassigned to the Log & Lumber Division in Tokyo, where I was involved in the import and export to the third country trade of softwood Log and lumber.
During that time, I spent 3 years in Seattle, WA USA from 1990 and 4 years in Vancouver, B.C. Canada from 1996 to manage the international business.
Since 2002, I moved to Norwegian Vessel Classification and Inspection Body called DET NORSKE VERITAS AS JAPN as a sales manager in Japan office.
Currently, I am contributing to the industry and society as the president of Meikyo Trading Co., Ltd , a trading company specializing in imports of chemical products, utilizing my experience as a trading company and overseas.
Reinstatement (Associate Member)
Motoi Kurobe
Impression, Inc.
After retiring from an executive position at an advertising company, I found K-Actus, a brand consulting firm.
Member of FCCJ since 2016. Sleeping member in 2022 due to Coronavirus spread, returning to membership in 2024.
Again, thank you for your continuous support.
Reinstatement (Associate Member)
Sachio Ohno
Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance Co., Ltd.
Safe travel contributes to world peace, I believe in this phrase and accordingly. Through my work in insurance, I will make every effort to provide insurance products, solutions, systems, marketing, and education. I would appreciate your kind support.
Resume & Solution
Owner/CEO (2023-present)
Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance Co.Ltd
Aerospace & Travel Industry Dept. Senior Adviser (2023-present)
Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance Co.Ltd
Travel Industry Dept. Business Promotion Councel (2008-2023)
CHUBB Insurance Company
Travel Industry Insurance Dep. Executive Manager (2000-2008)
AIG General Insurance Company
Travel Insurance Dep. General Manager (1998-2000)
Group
- Overseas Tour Operators Association
- Director (2008-present)
- Japanese Council for the Safety of Overseas Students
- Trustee (2010-present)
- Japan Foundation for International Tourism
- Vice President (2020-2022)
- Meisei University /Kanagawa University
- Lecturer/ Masters of International Tourism Studies (2016-present)
Reinstatement (Associate Member)
Hitoshi Suga
Yamanashi Gakuin University
Hitoshi Suga has worked for more than 24 years at Mitsui & Co and Mitsui & Co., Ltd. (USA) Inc., and during his last 4 years there, he served as founder President & CEO of MVC (Mitsui Venture Capital) Corp. At MVC, he has identified Mr. Kota Matsuda when he has just started Tully's Coffee Japan (TCJ) as its founder-President. Mr. Suga has become the initial investor in TCJ through MVC, and served as its Vice Chairman and Board Member for more than 8 years. TCJ went public in 2 and half years and later was acquired by Ito En. He has his MBA degree from Harvard Business School and BA in Political Science from Waseda Univ.
At Yamanashi Gakuin Univ. (YGU), Professor Suga is ex-Associate Dean for Supporting Career Development and Fundraising for Scholarships at iCLA (International College of Liberal Arts). He teaches Entrepreneurship and Marketing, using the case method of Harvard Business School and other prestigious business schools for international liberal arts undergraduates from over 40 countries. Prior to that, he has taught at Akita International Univ. (AIU) as Visiting Professor, as well as teaching at Kyoto Univ. and Keio Business School on an adjunct basis in the last 18 years, after leaving Mitsui and MVC.
He has lectured as a guest speaker in Japanese and English for more than 50 institutions in the past 20 years in both academia and business, and published numerous books, essays and journal contributions, including "Case Studies: Starting Up Your Own Venture" 『ケースで学ぶ実戦・起業塾』 (Aug. 2010, Nikkei Shimbun Press Inc., co-authored with Kyoto Univ. Office of Society-Academia Collaboration for Innovation instructors, compiled and edited by Tetsuo Kitani), and "How to Do Venture Capital"『ベンチャー投資の実務』 (June 1997, Nikkei Shimbun Inc., co-authored with Mitsui & Co., ltd. /MVC Corp.)
Between 2013 and 2017 Professor Suga authored the newspaper column series "A to Z of VB Management" in the Nikkei Business Daily and is still actively involved in several middle-size companies and start-ups with substantial track records of venture investments, either through having a seat on the board or by acting as an advisor to the President.
Reinstatement (Associate Member)
Makoto Sugata
Captain-Support Co., Ltd.
Graduated from the Faculty of Law at Rikkyo University
Dropped out of the Faculty of Law at Keio University
Joined the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (now the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry) and worked on issues related to the global and domestic environment, as well as overseeing research institute operations nationwide.
Served as a council member for Nerima Ward, Tokyo for 12 years, and worked on administrative reforms, such as improving the information disclosure system and business evaluation system.
After that, joined the Web Newspaper Company, a general incorporated association, and published books about local communities and administrative services such as libraries in Scandinavia.
In addition, in order to support the inheritance of traditional Japanese culture, work on the preservation and renovation of buildings as an old house appraiser, and have established a new agricultural corporation to engage in research into traditional Japanese farming methods.
Currently, also a member of the Global Business Society, a general incorporated association, and writing about food and energy security.
Reinstatement (Associate Member)
Takashi Toda
Diskomat Ab
Currently, Takashi Toda is representative and consultant for Wexiodisk & DISKOMAT, Swedish dishwashers for flight catering, hospitals, food processing plants as well as for restaurants and hotels etc.
General manager and Adviser for FRANKE foodservice Asia from 2007 to 2023, total kitchen equipment consolidator for McDonald's and Burger King.
Managing Director for Winterhalter Japan from 2000 to 2007, German dishwasher manufacturer mainly for glass washing and utensil washing.
Managing director and general manager for Tennant Company, Japan from 1988 to 1999, US Sweeper and scrubber manufacturer for factory, stadium, parks, sea ports etc.
I have been enthusiastically pursuing to develop market in Japan for foreign equipment with unique features and excellent performance after working for local equipment manufacturers and trading firm for around 15 years.
My hobby is golfing with the best score 75, started at the age of 60.
Enjoying so called 'Train game' with Domino tips with our best friends twice a month for many years.
Mailed for over 50 years with my wife, Keiko who is running small English school for almost 40 years and have two children, daughter 50 years old and son 47. The daughter lives in Oslo, Norway with her family for around 25 years, who is a professional Pianist playing at the National Opera house.
