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Meishi Sonobe
Chair
Meishi Sonobe is a director and an advisor to various companies in New Zealand and Japan.
He joined Mobil Sekiyu in 1972 and was appointed Director in 1995. Upon the merger with Exxon Mobil, he was promoted to Representative Director and Vice President in 2000.
He graduated from Keio University with a BA in Economics, has undertaken exchange studies at Stanford University and holds an MBA from the Harvard Business School.
He has a particular interest in fostering venture companies.
Watch Meishi Sonobe on TV3’s ASB Business programme
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Yukiatsu Akizawa
Yukiatsu Akizawa is Chair and Chief Executive of Heroes’ Edutainment Co Ltd, a company that he established in 2006. In the same year, he also launched “Shintakujyuku”, a workshop programme for parents and children to develop leadership skills and ability in the younger generation.
He has more than 30 years business experience in Japan. In 1989 he established the very successful convenience store business “am/pm Japan” as an internal venture business, becoming its President in 1992.
He has also held senior leadership roles with Japan Energy (formerly Kyodo Sekiyu). He graduated in economics from Seikei University in 1966.
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Sam Cassels
As the Managing Director of Saatchi & Saatchi Fallon Tokyo, Sam manages a mix of domestic and international clients including Toyota, Lexus, Starbucks, Emirates and Novartis among others.
He has been in the marketing and communications industry for 19 years with the majority of this time spent in Asia.
In 1997 Sam joined Saatchi & Saatchi’s creative flagship office in Singapore as Regional Group Director. In 2002 he was transferred to Dentsu Inc’s Tokyo headquarters to manage International Alliance clients that formed as a result of Dentsu Inc acquiring 15 percent of Publicis Groupe.
In October 2005, he transitioned to Publicis Tokyo as Chief Executive of both the Publicis and the Manning Salvage and Lee brands before assuming his duties as Chief Executive of Saatchi’s Tokyo office.
Sam was born and raised in New Zealand, completing university in Melbourne.
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Deborah Hayden
Deborah is Managing Partner Japan for Kreab Gavin Anderson, a leading worldwide specialist financial, corporate and public affairs communications firm, and serves as a member of the firm’s executive committee.
She has over 21 years experience in corporate and financial communications in Japan and is a widely recognised expert on how international companies should communicate with Japanese stakeholders.
During her time at Gavin Anderson Japan, Deborah has played a major role in building up the agency’s financial and corporate public relations consultancy business. She has led teams for numerous corporate profile raising campaigns, initial public offerings, and merger and acquisition situations as well as crisis communications projects.
In addition to providing clients with ongoing strategic advice on market entry, positioning and corporate reputation management, she has considerable expertise in issues management and investor relations.
Deborah has a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Otago and has undertaken postgraduate study at Osaka University.
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Masakatsu Mori
Masakatsu Mori is currently Corporate Advisor at Accenture Japan Ltd. His impressive career at Accenture began as a university graduate in 1969. He went on to hold the position of Representative Director and President of Accenture Japan in 1989, before becoming a Board Director of Accenture Ltd in 2001 and Representative Director and Chairman of Japan operation in 2003.
Among his many responsibilities, Mr Mori serves as Executive of the Japan Association of Corporate Executives (or “Keizai Doyukai”), Director of SKY Perfect JSAT Corporation and has recently been appointed President of the International University of Japan.
He shares his wealth of knowledge and experience with the next generation through teaching international management courses as a visiting Professor at Waseda University, Ritsumeikan University, and Aoyama Gakuin University.
Mr Mori graduated from Niigata University in 1969 with an Economics major.
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Minoru Morio
Minoru Morio is an Executive Alumnus of Sony Corporation and outside director of Oki Electric Industry Co Ltd.
His remarkable career at Sony Corporation began in 1963 and is highlighted by appointments to key and influential positions including, Chief Technology Officer in 1995 and Director and Vice Chairman in 2000. He is highly regarded as a charismatic leader and an icon in the industry.
Mr Morio also serves as a Commissioner of the Space Activities Commission, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), as well as holding various private sector positions. He has received accolades for his work from Japan’s Science and Technology Agency.
Mr Morio graduated Tokyo University in 1963 with an engineering major.
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Kenichi Nagai
Kenichi Nagai was most recently Vice President of Global Food & Beverage Industry at DKSH Japan (formerly Nihon SiberHegner K.K.).
He had been with the company and its predecessor since 1980, initially working to develop new business and new suppliers of medical, chemical, cosmetic, and food products, and subsequently assuming responsibility for the Global Food & Beverage Industry division.
DKSH generates annual gross revenues of more than CHF8,700 million and employs over 22,000 specialised staff incorporating no less than 48 nationalities.
The group operates in 35 countries through a coordinated network of 440 business locations across Asia and another 15 in Europe and the Americas.
He studied industrial chemistry at Nihon University and worked at Arimino Chemical following his graduation.
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Kazuhiko Toyama
Kazuhiko Toyama is Chief Executive and Representative Director of Industrial Growth Platform Inc, a company he established in 2007.
He also serves in various advisory roles in both the public and private sectors including as an Expert Member of the Council on Economic Fiscal Policy; a member of the Council for the Promotion of Regulatory Reform; and a member of the Council for Science and Technology, Basic Plan Special Committee.
He served as a member of the Postal Services Privatization Committee until March 2009. Prior to his current role, he was Chief Operating Officer of the Industrial Revitalization Corporation of Japan (IRCJ), which was established by the Japanese Government in 2003.
He started his career with the Boston Consulting Group and has also served as Chief Executive of Corporate Directions Inc, a company he helped to found.
He is a graduate of the University of Tokyo and has passed Japan’s National Bar Exam. He also holds an MBA from Stanford University.
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Goro Watanabe
Goro Watanabe has been a Senior Executive Advisor of Mori Building Co Ltd since 2003.
Prior to that he was Chair of Mitsui Chemicals Inc from 2001 to 2003, Executive Vice President of Mitsui & Co Ltd from 1996 to 1999 and Chair for the Americas and President and Chief Executive Officer of Mitsui & Co(USA)Inc from 1993 to 1995.
He was also a director of E. I. DuPont de Nemours & Co from 1996 to 1999.
Currently he is an Advisory Board Member of Daikin Industries Ltd, Chugai Pharmaceutical Co Ltd, and Ripplewood Holdings International S.A.
He has a BA in Economics from Waseda University.
