Through his work in conflict-affected areas in the 1990s, responses to increasingly frequent natural disasters around the world, and relief efforts following major disasters such as the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, Kensuke Onishi has come to recognize the critical importance of building social systems and infrastructure before conflicts, wars, and disasters occur. Join him for an exploration of what the private sector and civil society can do when governments and public institutions are unable to function effectively, and what roles they can play in such situations.

Speaker

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Kensuke Onishi was born in Osaka Prefecture in 1967. After graduating from Sophia University, he pursued a Master’s degree at the University of Bradford in the United Kingdom, specializing in Conflict Resolution and Humanitarian Intervention. He has completed coursework in the doctoral program at the Graduate School of Human Sciences at Osaka University. In 1996, he founded Peace Winds Japan. To date, he has spearheaded humanitarian aid operations in 41 countries and regions worldwide, including Iraq, Afghanistan, and Ukraine. 

In 2000, he played a key role in establishing Japan Platform, an international humanitarian aid organization driven by cooperation between NGOs, the business sectors, and the government. In 2012, he founded the Asia Pacific Alliance for Disaster Management (A-PAD) to facilitate mutual cooperation for disaster response across the Asia-Pacific region.

In recent years, based in Jinseki Kogen, Hiroshima Prefecture—the headquarters of Peace Winds—he has been actively involved in regional revitalization for mountainous areas and remote islands in Japan, as well as animal welfare initiatives. Furthermore, to strengthen emergency medical support during disasters, he launched the Airborne Rescue & Relief Operations With Search (ARROWS) project in 2019. In 2024, Inaugurated as the Vice Chairperson, and the Chairperson of Collaborative Capitalism Committee of Japan Association of Corporate Executives.