Speakers
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Makoto Ito
TOYOTA Connected Corporation / TOYOTA Connected North America / TOYOTA Connected India
Makoto Ito
Executive Vice President/TOYOTA Connected Corporation Director / TOYOTA Connected North AmericaDirector / TOYOTA Connected India
After graduating from an art college, he joined a design production company.While working as a graphic designer, he participated in TOYOTA Motor Corporation's GAZOO project, which was one of his clients. Subsequently, he transferred to GAZOO Media Service (now TOYOTA Connected) as the first full-time employee upon its founding, and has been with the company ever since.His expertise includes graphic design, web design, UX/UI design, planning and directing various web and other services, business planning, and management (including overseas subsidiary management).
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Manami Shiina
Wakumi Inc.
Manami Shiina
CEO of Wakumi Inc.
Born in Ibaraki Prefecture. Organized community development events during high school. After graduating from the Faculty of Social Engineering at the University of Tsukuba, he joined Tsukuba City Hall, where he was in charge of environmental administration, SDGs, and the establishment of city development companies and start-up bases. After working independently as a freelancer, he founded Wakumi Inc. in 2024. With the philosophy of “Creating Exciting Futures,” Wakumi supports women entrepreneurs. She has been working on supporting women entrepreneurs and community development based on the philosophy of “Creating an exciting future. She also manages GRIT for women.
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Marcus Brauchli
Blue Ocean
Marcus Brauchli
Blue Ocean Chairman
Marcus Brauchli served as the Executive Editor of The Washington Post from September 2008 to December 2012 and worked for 24 years as a top editor at The Wall Street Journal, where he was a correspondent and editor in Asia, Europe, and the United States.
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Mariko Nishimura
HEART CATCH Inc.
Mariko Nishimura
HEART CATCH Inc. CEO, Producer
Started as an IT engineer at IBM Japan, with roles at Adobe and Bascule before co-founding HEART CATCH (Tokyo) in 2014 and HEART CATCH LA (Los Angeles) in 2020. Leveraging expertise in technology and creativity, supports startups in Japan and the US through investment, growth, and operations, while collaborating with Japanese companies and municipalities on new business initiatives. Serves as a J-Startup supporter, member of the Expert Committee for Japan Open Innovation Awards (Cabinet Office), instructor at Art Thinking Collective (ESCP), Guest Professor at Musashino Art University, Forbes Japan columnist, and Fellow for Hamamatsu and Shizuoka.
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Mari Ogiso
SDG Impact Japan Co., Ltd.
Mari Ogiso
SDG Impact Japan Co., Ltd. Representative Director and Co-CEO
Engaged extensively in businesses aimed at achieving the SDGs, particularly SDG finance, including impact investment, support for social entrepreneurs, and the promotion of inclusive business. In 2017, established Asia's first gender investment fund, the Asia Women Impact Fund. Has held positions such as Head of Capital Markets at the World Bank, Tokyo Representative for the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) of the World Bank Group, Representative of Dalberg Japan, Diversity Director and Secretary-General of the Human Rights Committee at Fast Retailing Group. Serves as a W20 Japan Delegate, an expert committee member for JICA's Overseas Investment and Loan Committee, and an advisor for WE Empower. Graduated from the University of Tokyo with a degree in Economics and holds a master's degree from the Fletcher School at Tufts
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Masaki Kawai
UNERI, Inc.、IMPACT SHIFT INITIATIV
Masaki Kawai
UNERI, Inc. CEO、IMPACT SHIFT INITIATIV, Founder
He founded UNERI Inc. in 2020. In 2024, he organized the largest Conference in Japan, “IMPACT SHIFT,” which attracted approximately 700 participants about “Impact”. Also, he is a discussion member of the Financial Services Agency’s “Impact Consortium” and won a prize “Forbes JAPAN 30 UNDER 30 2024"
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Masaki Niwa
GRA&GREEN Inc.
Masaki Niwa
GRA&GREEN Inc. CEO
A native of Gifu Prefecture, he's dedicated his career to agricultural innovation. After studying at an agricultural high school and earning a PhD from Kyoto University, he joined a Nagoya University research project in 2016. This led to the founding of Grand Green in 2017, where he serves as CEO. We've successfully applied genome editing to over 10 crops, including tomatoes and rice, and are set to launch a high-sugar tomato in 2025.
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Masaru Nagura
CIC Institute
Masaru Nagura
CIC Institute Director
After earning his Ph.D. in nuclear engineering from the University of Tokyo, Masaru joined the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology in 2011, where he was responsible for policies related to university-launched startups. He later conducted research on the innovation ecosystem at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the U.S. Upon returning to Japan, he worked in venture capital and other fields before joining CIC in 2020 as a founding member. In 2022, Masaru co-founded the Startup Ecosystem Association Japan to foster the country's innovation landscape. He currently serves as the Director of CIC Institute, leading a team dedicated to building innovation ecosystems and supporting the growth of startups. He is also a specially appointed professor at the Institute of Science Tokyo.
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Masatomo Tamaru
Short Short Story Writer
Masatomo Tamaru
Short Short Story Writer
Born in Ehime, Japan in 1987. Graduated from the University of Tokyo, Faculty of Engineering, and completed the Graduate School of Engineering at the same university. In addition to his writing activities as a standard-bearer of the modern short short story, he has served as the head judge for the Botchan Literary Award and other prizes. He is also active in a wide range of activities, such as holding lectures on how to write short short stories.He has also held numerous workshops on the “Short Short Idea Method,” which he has developed for corporate clients.He is the author of many books, including “Umiiro no Bin. Business and Imagination” as a business book. Media appearances include “Jounetsu Tairiku”.Official website: https://masatomotamaru.com/
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Maxim Nitsche
Deep
Maxim Nitsche
Founder & CEO of Deep
Maxim, Founder & CEO of Deep, a Berlin-based AI company, developed DeepNews to combat Fake News and DeepPulse to structure information for businesses. At 15, he built MATH42, a math-learning app used by millions of students, acquired by Chegg (2017).
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MAYA NAGO
ARTnews JAPAN
MAYA NAGO
Editor in Chief, ARTnews JAPAN
Born in 1978, Maya Nago has held editorial roles at several media such as Esquire Japan and WIRED Japan before becoming the Features & Culture Lead at VOGUE JAPAN. During her tenure in 2020, she launched the VOGUE CHANGE project, which addresses various social issues. In October 2022, she was appointed Editor-in-Chief of ARTnews JAPAN, the Japanese edition of the U.S.-based art media, which was originally founded in 1902.
Conferences
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Michael Sagara
BAOBAB Inc.
Michael Sagara
BAOBAB Inc. President & CEO
Since its founding in 2010, Baobab has provided AI training data construction services to corporate and research institutions in Japan and abroad, including Carnegie Mellon University, NTT, and Google.2022: Co-authored a paper titled “Social Value of Inclusive Employment Environments” published in Stanford Social Innovation Review Japan Edition 03: Science, Technology, and Inclusion.2024: Awarded by Forbes JAPAN as one of the '30 Women Changing the World in Technology.
