Toshiyuki Watanabe is a corporate affiliate visiting fellow at the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (Shorenstein APARC) for 2017-18.  Watanabe has more than 14 years of experience as a computer engineer, editor, and in business development at The Asahi Shimbun, the national leading newspaper in Japan.  Prior to joining Shorenstein APARC, Watanabe worked mainly in business development working on the mobile website and apps.  Watanabe graduated from the University of Tsukuba with a B.S. in Information Technology.  

Jeong Ah Ryou is a corporate affiliate visiting fellow at the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (Shorenstein APARC) for 2017-18.  Ryou is the Chief Investment Office of the Yozma Group, Korea, Ltd., where she has experience in start-up accelerating programs.  She has over 16 years of experience in portfolio asset management, private equity funds, and venture capital investment.  She co-founded Link Investments in Seoul and worked for NH Securities & Investments, Hong Kong Shanghai Banking Corporation and Tong Yang Investment Bank.  Ryou is interested in applying her knowledge acquired here to make a new platform of Korean startup ecosystem interacting within the community.  She earned her MBA degree from Korea University and her Bachelor of Political Science from Ewha Womans University in Korea. 

Ramya Raveendra is a corporate affiliate visiting fellow at the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (Shorenstein APARC) for 2017-18.  Raveendran has over ten years experience in quality management of biopharmaceutical products and has been with Reliance Life Sciences Pvt. Ltd., India since 2006.  Currently, she is designated as Manager in the Regulatory Affairs team.  Her current responsibilities include regulatory affairs activities (including checking and reviewing of technical documents); communicating new regulatory requirements and changes within the organization; project submissions to domestic regulatory bodies; preparation and submission of dossiers for biological products to facilitate registration of these products in the exports market; and supporting the international marketing team by query response to technical documents submitted.  Raveendran received her post-graduation in Human Genetics from Sri Ramachandra University, Chennai in 2006.

Takeshi Okamoto is a corporate affiliate visiting fellow at the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (Shorenstein APARC) for 2017-18.  Prior to joining Shorenstein APARC, he served as deputy director for policy making and implementation at the Governement of Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade & Industry (METI), where he was in charge of manufacturing industry policy, economic policy, and SME policy.  Okamoto received his bachlor's degree of law from Tokyo Univeristy in 2004.  

Kazushi Nomura is a corporate affiliate visiting fellow at the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (Shorenstein APARC) for 2017-18.  Prior to joining Shorenstein APARC, he served as a Patent Examiner at the Japan Patent Office, where he was in charge of human computer interfaces.    

Jiangbo Lu is a corporate affiliate visiting fellow at the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (Shorenstein APARC) for 2017-18.  He has worked at China Petroleum Technology and Development Corporation (CPTDC), an affiliate of PetroChina Company Ltd., for 25 years.  As the Vice President of CPTDC, he is in charge of project management and market development.  He received his BA at Shanxi Finance and Economics University and his MBA at Peking University.  

Yoshihiro Kato is a corporate affiliate visiting fellow at the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (Shorenstein APARC) for 2017-18.  Kato is a senior software architect of Future Architect, Inc., an IT consulting firm in Japan.  Kato has 16 years of experience in software engineering, specifically a distributed system design.  Prior to joining Shorenstein APARC, Kato was a visiting researching of Blockchain and Fintech at Nippon Institute for Research Advancement.  Kato graduated from Shizuoka University and received a masters degree in computer science.

Kazumasa Ito is a corporate affiliate visiting fellow at the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (Shorenstein APARC) for 2017-18.  He is a research of Mitsubishi Electric Corp., an electric and electronic manufacturer in Japan.  Ito has 15 years of experience in electric motors, especially electro magnetic design and their driving technologies.  He graduated from Nagoya University and received a masters degree in engineering.  During his fellowship at Shorenstein APARC, his research will focus on management of development.

Takahito Inoshita is a corporate affiliate visiting fellow at the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (Shorenstein APARC) for 2017-18.  Inoshita is a marketing specialist in the Business Development Department, Kozo Keikaku Engineering Inc. (KKE), Japan.  In KKE, Inoshita was engaged in the development of network simulators for several years.  As a manager of the Corporate Planning Section, he has been engaged in data analysis for the corporate strategy.

Hiroto Akai is a global affiliate visiting scholar at the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (Shorenstein APARC) for 2017-19.  Akai has served various positions at the Japanese Ministry of Finance and the Financial Services Agency.  Prior to joining Shorenstein APARC, he was Deputy Director of Policy Planning and Research Division, which is responsible for producing the Financial Statements Statistics of Japanese Corporations.  He assumed several tasks related to financial markets during his career.  He was Deputy Director of the Office of Foreign Exchange Reserve Management (2015-16), where he was responsible for portfolio management of Japan's FX reserves.  He also worked for Foreign Exchange and Markets Division (2008-09), where he was in charge of foreign exchange market policy during the global financial crisis.  He received a masters degree of economics from Hitotsubashi University in 2005.