WHO WE ARE
Message

Welcome from the Chair
While Japan’s global competitiveness has suffered in recent years, the nation’s infrastructure, social cohesiveness and intellectual capital have remained strong. Unfortunately, the growing insularity in business and other segments of society is a very dangerous risk in today’s fast-changing, interconnected world.
As these issues cut across disciplines and sectors, IMPACT Japan is being set up as a much needed, interdisciplinary, catalyst organization with the mission to research, measure, and prototype new solutions in collaboration with key organizations across business, academia, government, and the citizen sector.
To create the next generation of global leaders, greater support for study and work abroad is needed, including a scholarship program, well-funded by both public and private sources. The program should also be fully supported by businesses that realize the value of hiring employees with a wider perspective and global viewpoint.
In addition to leading the development of local versions of global movements such as TEDx and Global Entrepreneurship Week, IMPACT Japan is also acting as a catalyst to help develop high priority programs tailored to Japan such as the scholarship program and complementary initiatives.
We look forward to working with all stakeholders on initiatives to help Japan regain its role as a vibrant society that can make a major impact on the world.
Kiyoshi Kurokawa
Executive Committee

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Kiyoshi Kurokawa Chair and Co-Founder |
Professor, National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies Chairman, Health Policy Institute, Japan Governor, Japan Chapter, American College of Physicians Professor, Emeritus of the University of Tokyo |
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William H. Saito Scholarship Director, Co-Founder |
Founder & CEO, Intecur, K.K. |
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Todd Porter IMPACT Hub, TEDxTokyo Director, Co-Founder |
Founder & Curator of TEDxTokyo |
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Haruko Nishida Secretary General, IMPACT Hub Co-Director, Co-Founder |
Former North Asia Research Manager, in charge of Seoul and Tokyo Research and Information (R&I), McKinsey & Company Inc., Japan |
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Patrick Newell Education Director, Co-Founder |
Founder & Learning Activist, Tokyo International School, 21 Foundation Founder & Vision Navigator, TEDxTokyo, Living Dreams |
Directors
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Jun Yamada Director |
Senior Vice President, Qualcomm Chairman and President, Qualcomm Japan |
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Mario Tokoro, Ph.D Director |
Co-Founder, President and CEO, Sony Computer Science Laboratories, Inc. |
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Daisuke Kotegawa Director |
Former Executive Director for Japan, International Monetary Fund (IMF) |
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Kazuhiko Toyama Director |
CEO, Industrial Growth Platform, Inc. |
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Fujiyo Ishiguro Director |
President and CEO, Netyear Group Corp. |
Jun Yamada
Director
Senior Vice President, Qualcomm
Chairman and President, Qualcomm Japan
Jun Yamada serves as senior vice president of Qualcomm and chairman and president of Qualcomm Japan since March 2009. In this role, Mr. Yamada is responsible for Qualcomm’s business operations in Japan and with Japanese licensees. Yamada previously served as chairman from June 2008, and was appointed to president in March 2005. Yamada began his career at Qualcomm Japan in 1998, when Qualcomm Japan Inc. was established. He worked on standards, new technology development, technology marketing, career and industry relations, promotion of application platform, BREW®, and so on.
Prior to joining Qualcomm Japan, Yamada served as technical director of AccessLine Technologies which founded One Number Service Inc., a NTT and NTT DOCOMO joint venture, and provided value-added telecommunication services to consumers. Yamada began his career at Matsushita Communication Industrial Co., Ltd., after graduating from the University of Tokyo in 1978. He was engaged in developing digital communication systems for land mobile and cellular, including systems for North America. He has Bachelor of Electronics Engineering.
Mario Tokoro, Ph.D
Director
Co-Founder, President and CEO, Sony
Computer Science Laboratories, Inc.
Dr. Mario Tokoro is a Co-Founder, President and CEO, Sony Computer Science Laboratories, Inc., established in 1988. The laboratories are small yet extremely high-level, unique ones with full of freedom and originality. The laboratories focused on research in computer science for the first decade, and then on human-centric research for the second decade, and now on sustainability research. Open Energy Systems and Healthcare, among others are typical recent research topics. As the conceptual base for research, he has been advocating a new scientific methodology called Open Systems Science to solve problems of complex, ever-changing systems such as earth sustainability, life and health, and man-made huge information infrastructures (Open Systems Science – from Understanding Principles to Solving Problems, IOS Press, 2010).
Dr. Tokoro is Sony Research Professor at the Graduate School of Science and Technology, Keio University since 2009, and gives lectures of Innovation Strategy and Management and organizes the Symposium Series titled Towards Further Development for Mankind and Society.
He has been serving as the Research Supervisor of the Japan Science and Technology Agency project of Dependable Embedded OS for Practical USE (DEOS), which is a $50 million project over 7 years started in 2006. In this project, he advocates Open Systems Dependability (OSD) and leads the development of the DEOS process to achieve OSD.
Dr. Tokoro received Ph.D in Electrical Engineering from Keio University and became Professor of Computer Science at Keio University. He is an expert and innovator in Computers and Internet. For example, he invented Acknowledging Ethernet and developed one of the earliest campus-wide networks called Keio S&T Network in 1981. He devised and promoted the notion of Object Oriented Concurrent Programming and edited a pioneering book (Object-Oriented Concurrent Programming, MIT Press, 1987). He led the project of Muse Operating System at Sony Computer Science Laboratories and was later used in several Sony’s products including Digital Satellite TV Set-Top-Boxes and AIBO pet robots.
In 1997, Dr. Tokoro moved from Keio University to Sony Corporation and became Corporate Senior Vice President, and then assumed to be CTO in 2000. He promoted the method of architecture-based design and common software platform for consumer electronics products. For such purpose, he established a consortium called CELF (Consumer Electronics Linux Forum) with eleven international corporations including Panasonic, IBM, and Philips). CELF was recently absorbed in Linux Foundation to form a workgroup for embedded systems. Now, almost all Sony products exploit Linux or Linux-based software. He retired from Sony Corporation in 2008
He was Visiting Assistant Professor at University of Waterloo and Carnegie-Mellon University, Visiting Researcher at GMD, and Visiting professor at University of Paris VI. He served as a member of British Telecom Group CTO External Advisory Board (2003-2006), NTT DoCoMo Technology Advisor Board (2003-2004), and various Governmental Committees. He has been an Associate Member of Science Council of Japan since 2006. He was awarded Officier de l’Ordre National du Merit from the Republic of France in 2005 and Docteur Honoris Causa from University of Paris (UPMC) in 2010.
Daisuke Kotegawa
Director
Former Executive Director for Japan, International Monetary Fund (IMF)
Mr. Daisuke Kotegawa is the Executive Director for Japan at the IMF from July 2007 to August 2010. In this capacity he was in charge of the unprecedented level of cut of the budget and the staff numbers of the IMF, approved various new measures of the IMF to tackle the world economic crisis. Among other things he chaired the last meeting of the New Arrangements to Borrow, which successfully raised $ 600 billion for the IMF. Since late 1990s he was in charge of dealing with financial crisis in Japan, including;
(i) the liquidation of Yamaichi Securities, Sanyo Securities in 1997 in the Securities Bureau of the Japanese Ministry of Finance,
(ii) nationalization of LTCB, NCB in 1998 in the Financial Supervisory Authority and ,
(iii) the establishment of the Industrial Revitalization Corporation of Japan in 2003, as well as,
(iv) the creation of business recovery funds in the Development Bank of Japan.
He was also involved in various international negotiations, including US-Japan Framework Consultation, WTO Negotiation on Financial Services (Counterparts were Prof. Summers and Tim Geitner), US-Japan Negotiation on the Structural Impediments Initiatives, World Bank Group Capital Increase which raised the Japan’s status from No 5 to No 2, Yen-$ Committee and OECD Guidelines on Transfer Pricing. He served as the vice chairman of the Committee on Fiscal Affairs at OECD and initiated the committee on Tax Competition which established the Black List. He also worked in Minister’s Secretariat, Budget Bureau, Tax Bureau, Finance Bureau and International Bureau in the MOF.
His assignment outside the MOF includes Senior Financial Economist in the World Bank (in charge of IDA negotiation and design of new financial instruments) and the Deputy Vice Governor of Yamagata prefecture. Recently he has been invited for presentation by Harvard Business School, Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business at Beijing University, Fudan University in Shanghai, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy in Singapore, National University Higher School of Economics in Moscow, Vanderbilt University, American University in Washington DC, St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, and Asia Innovation Initiative. A native of Usuki city in Oita prefecture, his extracurricular activities include Russian interpreter for Soviet artists while as a student of the University of Tokyo. He is fluent in Japanese, English, and good in Russian and German.
Kazuhiko Toyama
Director
CEO, Industrial Growth Platform, Inc.
Graduated from the University of Tokyo (BA in Law) in 1985. Passed the national bar examination in 1984. Joined the Boston Consulting Group in 1985. In 1986, joined establishment of Corporate Directions, Inc. and assumed an executive role of overseeing operations including strategic planning, development of client service concepts, implementations and monitoring, etc., for a wide range of industries. Completed MBA and Public Management Program at Stanford University in 1992.
In 2001, became CEO of Corporate Directions, Inc. Extensively experienced revitalization planning and implementations ranging from large-scale failure cases such as former Nippon Lease to medium-sized ones such as Akiyama Printing Machinery. In April 2003 appointed Executive Managing Director and COO of Industrial Revitalization Corporation of Japan, a government-backed restructuring agency, whose primary mission is to facilitate coherent revitalization of industrial and financial sectors as well as promote the development of business revitalization market in Japan. In 2007, he established Industrial Growth Platform, Inc. which aims to support our clients to achieve long-term and sustainable enhancement of enterprise value.
Expert member of Council on Economic Fiscal Policy (MOF), Member of Council for Science and Technology, Basic Plan Special Committee (MLIT).
Outside director of OMRON Corporation and Pia Corporation. Auditor of The Asahi Shimbun Company.
Fujiyo Ishiguro
Director
President and CEO, Netyear Group Corp.
Fujiyo Ishiguro is President & CEO of Netyear Group Corp., a Marketing company focused on Internet Services, having more than 150 active clients in 2010. Netyear completed its IPO in March of 2008 on TSE/Mothers.
Prior to taking the reigns at Netyear, Ms. Ishiguro was a founder of US-based consulting firm. She provided strategic advice Silicon Valley startups such as Yahoo, and Netscape, as well as mature technology companies including Oracle and Adobe. She also consulted about US market opportunities to large Japanese clients including Sony, NEC, Panasonic, NTT, Toshiba, Toyota, and many others. During this consulting work, she specialized in promoting the technology transfer between US and Japan.
Prior to this, she held the managerial position in marketing at Swarovski, the world leading crystal manufacturer located in Austria. She implemented their entry strategy to Japan as a manger of the new division and increased the sales revenue by tenfold in 5 years to $2M.
She started her career at Brother Industries, Ltd. where she was in charge of Product marketing of computer devices to US and Europe.
Her recent publication was “Don’t try the work that you were told”. She is a commentator for several TV programs and a member of several committees within the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry. She is a member of advisory board in ad:tech Tokyo.
She received an MBA from Stanford University and a BS in Economics from Nagoya University. She was a visiting professor at Nagoya University in 2002 and 2010.
Auditors
Sadahiko Yoshimura
Auditor
Special university professor at Aoyama Gakuin University Graduate School of Professional Accountancy, Japan
Certified Public Accountant
He received a master in economics from the Graduate School of Nanzan, Japan in 1972. He joined Dai-ich Kangyo Bank, Ltd (currently Mizuho Bank, Ltd.) in 1972. In 1973, he joined Tetsuzo Ota & Co.(currently Ernst & Young ShinNihon LLC) and became a senior partner in 1995. From 2004 to 2008, he was appointed Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Ernst & Young ShinNihon LLC. Since 2010, he has been a special university professor at Aoyama Gakuin University Graduate School of Professional Accountancy, Japan.
He is a Member of a conflict of interest committee for The University of Tokyo. He is a board member of Japan Foundation for Accounting Education and Learning. He was a visiting professor at Graduate School of Asia-Pacific Studies, Waseda University. He was a vice chairman of Audit Committee for The Japanese Institute of Certified Public Accountants. He was an acting member of Industrial Structure Council at Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.
Kanae Doi
Auditor
Japan Director, Human Rights Watch
Kanae Doi works to encourage the Japanese Government to prioritize
human rights in its foreign policy and practices. She also works on media
outreach and the development of Human Rights Watch’s profile in Japan.
Prior to joining Human Rights Watch in 2006, she worked as a practicing
attorney, based in Tokyo. Her practice included refugee law, immigration
law, constitutional law and criminal defense, and she frequently gave
media interviews and published on these issues in the Japanese press from
the perspective of international human rights law.
Doi received her law degree from the University of Tokyo and her Master’s
degree in the International Studies from the New York University School of
Law. She speaks English and Japanese.
Honorary Chair
John V. Roos, U.S. Ambassador to Japan
Honorary Chair
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States
of America to Japan
In announcing Ambassador Roos’s selection, President Obama said, "A partnership between the United States and Japan is one of tremendous interest. The person who I thought could best do this is somebody with superb judgment, somebody with an outstanding intellect, somebody who is a very close friend of mine and a close advisor, somebody who has worked both in the private sector with cutting-edge technologies, but also is somebody who has a deep interest in public service. He is somebody who I’m confident is going to be able to help to strengthen both the regional and the global relationship between the United States and Japan." Ambassador Roos was sworn into office on August 16, 2009.
Since his arrival in Tokyo, Ambassador Roos has built relationships and established a rich and active dialogue with government leaders, businesspeople, media and students over the course of his travels across more than half of Japan’s prefectures. In addition to addressing the security, economic, and global challenges that Japan and the United States face, Ambassador Roos has drawn a specific focus on areas of cooperation that include people to people connections, innovation and entrepreneurship, renewable energy, educational exchange, and trade issues. He also works closely with Japan on issues related to the Hague Convention. On August 6, 2010 he became the first U.S. official ever to attend the commemoration ceremony of the atomic bombing in Hiroshima.
Prior to his appointment, Ambassador Roos served as Chief Executive Officer at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, the leading law firm in the U.S. in the representation of technology, life sciences, and emerging growth companies. There he helped lead his firm during the waves of innovation in Silicon Valley, from the growth of software and communications, to the Internet Age and the emergence of biotechnology, to today’s focus on clean technology and renewable energy.
Throughout his career, Ambassador Roos has been active in public service, serving on a public school board in California from 1991 to 1999 and in politics, where he worked on presidential campaigns for Walter Mondale, Bill Bradley and John Kerry before joining President Obama’s campaign. Prior to becoming Ambassador to Japan, Ambassador Roos served on the Stanford School of Education Dean’s Advisory Board and on the Law School Dean’s Advisory Council. He was elected to membership in the Stanford Associates for his long-standing volunteer service to the University.
Ambassador Roos grew up in San Francisco and attended Stanford, where he graduated Phi Beta Kappa with Honors and Distinction, and Stanford Law School, earning his Juris Doctor in 1980, achieving Order of the Coif. He and his wife Susie have two children living in California, their daughter, Lauren, a nurse in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles, and their son, David, a student at Stanford.
Organizational Structure
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