Board of Directors

Representative Directors

Tadayasu Nishida

Board Chariman, Nishida Gakuen

Tadayasu Nishida graduated from the Waseda University School of Political Science and Economics and MIT Sloan School of Management.
In 1985, he joined NTT as one of the first privatized employees, and during his 10-year tenure at NTT, he was in charge of raising funds through foreign bonds, dealing with rating agencies, investor relations, financing overseas business investment, and was the section manager in charge of business planning at the Shinetsu Branch Office (at that time). During this period, he was transferred to IBJ International plc. in London, England (1986-1987) and studied at MIT Sloan School of Management (1990-1992).
In 1996, he founded Cicom International (now Cicom Brains), and in 2003, he established the MOT program in collaboration with MIT Sloan School of Management. Since then, he has established offices in Singapore, Shanghai, Bangkok, and Jakarta. Cicom Brains has been working hard to build a foundation for business human resource development in Asia. In 2019, Cicom has become a subsidiary of Human Associates Holdings, Inc. listed on the Mothers market, and he served as Board Member. The company was acquired by MBK Wellness Holdings K.K., a subsidiary of Mitsui & Co. through TOB in 2022. Tadayasu Nishida will retire as Representative Director of Cicom Brains in March 2025.
In addition to this, he has served as Chairman of the Board of Directors of Nishida Gakuen, which operates Alpha Medical and Welfare College in Machida City since 2015.
He will serve as President of the MIT Association of Japan for three years starting in 2019. He is the translator of “分散型リーダーシップの実践 Xチーム”.

Kenichi Osugi

Professor of Law, Chuo University Law School

Professor Osugi graduated from the Law Department of Tokyo University. After serving as Assistant Professor of Law at Tokyo Metropolitan University, he assumed his present position at Chuo University Law School. His principal areas of research include corporate governance and laws related to venture businesses. He is a member of the Cabinet Office’s M&A Study Group and other advisory similar advisory groups. His published works include “Company Law” (3rd edition, 2015 and “Casebook for Company Law Studies”, (5th edition, 2015).

Executive Director and Founder

Nicholas E. Benes

Independent Director, ADVANTEST

Mr. Benes received his B.A. in political science from Stanford University, and a JD-MBA degree from UCLA. He is an inactive member of the bar in California and New York. In the past, he served as a twice-elected Governor of the ACCJ, long-time Chair of its FDI Committee and Growth Strategy Task Force; and as a member of the Experts Committee of the Japan Investment Council, an advisory committee to the Japanese Cabinet on FDI policy. He has served as an independent outside director at Alps Mapping, the listed company Cecile Ltd., Livedoor Holdings (post-scandal), IMAGICA GROUP (TSE6879), and ADVANTEST CORPORATION (TSE6857). Mr. Benes has taught corporate governance and business ethics as an Adjunct Professor at Hitotsubashi University and the International University of Japan. In 2010, he was a member of the Financial Services Agency’s Corporate Governance Liaison Committee, which had been formed to provide private sector input to the Ministry of Justice and the Legal Affairs Advisory Council regarding amendment of Japan’s Company Law. In 2013, he proposed that the creation of a corporate governance code be included in the LDP’s growth strategy, to be implemented under the auspices of the FSA. He then advised members of the diet and the FSA regarding the content of Japan’s first corporate governance code. In 2016, he proposed changes to the Company Pension Law regulations and guidance, which resulted in a joint study group being formed by the Ministry of Healthy, Labor and Welfare, the Pension Fund Association, experts and institutional investors, and the FSA. The study group issued its report encouraging corporate pension funds to sign the Stewardship Code in March of 2017. He is a Regional Governance Partner for the International Center for Corporate Governance.

Directors

Sachiko Ichikawa

Partner Lawyer, Tanabe and Partners Law Office

Outside Director, Tokyo Electron Limited

Outside Director, Olympus Corporation

Outside Director, Azbil Corporation

Director, Sony Education Foundation

Graduated from the University of Tokyo, Faculty of Law. Obtained LLM from Georgetown University Law Center. Admitted to the Dai-Ichi Tokyo Bar Association and the State Bar of New York. She is a certified public accountant in the U.S. and specializes in crisis management and litigation handling of accounting fraud cases. She is a vice chair of the Foreign Law Subcommittee of the Labor Law Committee of the Dai-ichi Tokyo Bar Association, where she leads research on business and human rights, is a SASB FSA Credential Holders, a member of the GRI Labor Advisory Group, Economic Impact Working Group and is familiar with sustainability disclosure standards. She is currently an outside director of Tokyo Electron Limited, Olympus Corporation, Azbil Corporation and a board member of the Sony Education Foundation. Drawing on her experience, she has served as a lecturer at various BDTI Director training sessions, leading discussions on risks related to securities fraud litigation, company-with-committees practices, and the relationship between sustainability topics and the board of directors.

Masataka Ueda

Outside Director, McDonald’s Holdings Japan Corporation
Advisor, Wave Corporation
Advisor, MoriX Corporation
Advisor, JFR Card Corporation
Representative Director, NPO FTJ
Part-time Lecturer, Kagawa University National University Corporation

After acquiring a BA degree in Economics from Hitotsubashi University in 1979, M. Ueda joined Mitsubishi Bank Limited. In 1983, he moved to American Express International Japan, where he held a number of key positions including Vice President, Consumer Card and Regional Business Leader Japan/Korea for Global Network Services. He was appointed Vice Chairman of American Home Assurance Company (Japan), an AIG operation, in 2000, and became Chairman and CEO in the following year. In 2007, he was appointed Chairman and CEO of Cecile Company Limited (then listed on Tokyo Stock Exchange and a Livedoor subsidiary), to reform corporate governance and revitalize the company’s business. In 2013, Cecile was successfully merged with Dinos Company Limited to become part of Dinos Cecile Company Limited, and he became Chairman of the Board of Directors of the new entity (until 2015).

In addition to the above, he served as advisor to ING Bank (2007-2008), visiting professor at Kagawa University (2010-2014), part-time lecturer at Kagawa University (2015-March 2016), representative director of Almard Corporation (1998-2014), Chairman of Sai-Shi Li (Shanghai) Co. Advisor to KCJ GROUP, which operates Kidzania, a work experience facility for children (2014-2019), and Advisor to Hikari Tsushin Inc [9435] (October 2016 – March 2019).　Currently, he is a Director of the Board of Directors of the Japan Institute for Corporate Officer Development (BDTI) (since June 2014), Outside Director of McDonald’s Holdings Japan Corporation [2702] (since March 2016), Advisor to Wave Corporation, Advisor to MoriX Corporation, Part-time Lecturer at Kagawa University National University Corporation, The East Japan Bank, Ltd. Outside Director, Advisor to SCARA Corporation, Executive Director of the Japan Golf Tour Organization, and President of the Japan Eggshell Membrane Promotion Association, a non-profit organization.
His publications include “How to Think about Direct Marketing” (not for sale) and “How to Improve Your Ability to Communicate: First and Second Edition” (e-book).　His hobbies include playing the piano and viola, golf, and scuba diving.

Daizo Motoyoshi

Senior Vice President / Chief Internal Audit Officer, Olympus Corporation

Auditor, Olympus Terumo Biomaterials Corporation

Auditor, Evident Corporation

Motoyoshi Daizo has joined Ernst & Young in 1985 after graduating from Claremont McKenna University in Economics and Accounting. He has acquired United States Certified Public Accountant (California). Afterwards, Motoyoshi Daizo obtained Master of Business Taxation from the University of Southern California. He received MBA from Columbia University. He holds Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) . After working for Alliance Bernstein and as a Japanese equity analysts, he became Senior Vice President at General Electric Asset Management. In 2012, Motoyoshi Daizo joined LIXIL Group Corporation. He has been in charge of internal audits and risk management, and afterwards served as Senior Executive Officer and Corporate Risk & Audit Officer. He is currently Senior Vice President / Chief Internal Audit Officer of Olympus Corporation, Auditor, Olympus Terumo Biomaterials Corporation and Auditor, Evident Corporation.

Yasuhiko Tanabe

Partner Lawyer, Tanabe and Partners Law Office

After graduating from the University of Tokyo Faculty of Law and Sophia University Law School, he worked as an attorney at Tanabe Sogo Law Office. After graduating from the National University of Singapore (LL.M.), he was transferred to a local law firm in Singapore and returned to Japan. After returning to Tanabe Sogo Law Office, he has been involved in a wide range of corporate legal affairs, focusing on corporate law and various disputes.

Ken Hokugo

Pension Fund Association

Director, Head of Corporate Governance

Director, Hedge Fund Investments

After graduating from Keio University, Faculty of Economics, he joined Sumitomo Bank, and after studying at Columbia Business School in the U.S., he worked at the New York branch for 15 years from 1995. In charge of new business planning and special assignments. He also planned and executed various investments in PE, hedge funds, credit, etc., hedging with new structures, securitization, etc., for effective use of capital with an eye to increasing shareholder value. From 2005 to 2010, he was Deputy General Manager of the Americas Division, concurrently serving as CFO of the Americas Headquarters, where he was in charge of North and South American operations and led portfolio management initiatives. He is a frequent speaker on the current state of corporate governance in Japan at conferences and seminars abroad. In addition, as head of hedge fund investments, overseeing a hedge fund portfolio worth over US$10 billion.

Outside Director

Yukiko Nakagawa

Outside Director, Nissin Foods Holdings Co.

Outside Director, Macromill, Inc.

Outside Director, Toho Zinc Co., Ltd.

Founder and Representative Director, Talent Innovation Inc.

Specially Appointed Professor, Aoyama Gakuin University School of Business

PhD. (Commerce, Keio University). After graduating from university, she joined Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank Limited. She has worked as a global HR practitioner for more than 25 years in the financial and manufacturing industries in Japan and the United States.
While raising two sons and working a full-time job, she pursued a master’s degree as a working graduate student, then a doctoral degree over the course of ten years. She specializes in human capital management, global organizational development, and the science of D&I on corporate performance.
Her recent interests include ESG management promotion, using AI in management, and the use of advanced foreign human capital in Japan.
She has served as an outside director at a total of six prime companies since 2018. Currently, she is also an outside director of Nissin Foods Holdings Co., Ltd and Macromill Inc. and Toho Zinc Co. and President of Talent Innovation Inc. as a Founder, Lecturer at the Department of Nutrition, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tokushima, Visiting MBA Professor at Chung-Ang University, Taiwan and Specially Appointed Professors at Aoyama Gakuin University, School of Business.

Nao Makino

Kaname Capital LP, Partner/Head or Research

Nao Makino began his career in equity research at Morgan Stanley MUFG Securities after earning a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) from the University of Tokyo. In 2014, he joined Misaki Capital, where he focused on engagement investing in Japanese listed companies. He earned his MBA from Columbia Business School in 2022 and subsequently joined Kaname Capital LP, a Boston-based investment firm, as Head of Research. In 2024, he established and now leads the firm’s Tokyo research office.

His papers and essays include Mizuho Securities Capital Market Update March 2023, “Governance of Companies with High Founding Shareholder Ownership,” Financial and Capital Market Research No. 13, “External Majority as the Next ‘Form,’” and “The History of Women’s Participation in the United States and the Involvement of Institutional Investors” (included in the Opinion-Sharing Investors’ Association’s “The Future of Investors Pioneered by Women’s Participation”).

Statutory Auditor

Mu Congrong

Executive Officer, Head of President’s Office, Head of Finance and Accounting, GNI Group Ltd.
Director, MICREN Healthcare Co., Ltd.

After graduating from Shanghai University of International Business and Ecnomics, Mu worked for KPMG Shanghai office and KPMG AZSA LLC Tokyo office for about 15 years as Audit Senior Manager. Mu is familiar with IFRS, Japanese GAAP, China GAAP, PCAOB, SEC and U.S. SOX requirements.Since 2022, she has been working for GNI Group Ltd. as Executive Officer, Head of President’s Office, Head of Finance and Accounting. She also serves as Director at MICREN Healthcare Co., Ltd.

Outside Statutory Auditor

Hiromi Suzuki

Amova Asset Management
Head of CIO Office
Investment Strategist with CIO

He has worked as a Japanese equity strategist at a foreign securities firm for over 30 years. Provides strategic insights to institutional investors through regular reports and market commentary. He has written analytical reports based on financial and non-financial data of approximately 10,000 companies in Japan and overseas, analyzing the impact of corporate law, industry regulations, accounting systems, corporate governance reforms, and ESG regulations on companies, industries, and stock prices from various perspectives. Currently, he is the head of the CIO office at Amova Asset Management’s Investment Management Department.