About JCIE/Japan

Founded in 1970, the Japan Center for International Exchange (JCIE) is one of Japan’s leading nonprofit, nonpartisan foreign affairs institutes. It organizes legislative exchanges and policy research and dialogues that bring together key figures from diverse sectors of society, both in Japan and overseas. Based in Tokyo, JCIE operates in close partnership with its American counterpart, JCIE/USA in New York, with the aim of strengthening Japan’s international relations, helping tackle global issues, and promoting a more diverse Japanese society.

Spanning a wide range of topics, JCIE’s programs cover foreign relations and security, global health and human security, gender and diversity, civil society, and cross-border movements of people. Multisectoral policy dialogues and research programs have had a substantial impact on the discourse and policies in those fields, while political exchange programs have touched the lives of many legislators, political leaders, and policymakers around the world.

Our Priorities

Strengthening Japan’s Foreign Relations

Contributing on Global Issues

Promoting a More Diverse Society

Staff

AKIO OKAWARA  | President & Chief Executive Officer
HIDEKO KATSUMATA  | Executive Director & Chief Operating Officer
TOSHIHIRO MENJU  | Managing Director & Chief Program Officer
SATOKO ITOH  | Managing Director & Chief Program Officer
HIFUMI TAJIMA  | Chief Program Officer
TOMOKO SUZUKI  | Chief Program Officer
HYEJIN LEE  |  Senior Program Officer
DAI FUNAKI  | Senior Program Officer
MOMOKO ABE  |  Program Officer
TAORI GOTO  |  Program Officer
RYO TAINAKA  |  Program & Administrative Officer
YOSHITAKA NISHINO  |  Research Associate
HIROMI KAWANO |  Program Associate

SHIGEKO KONDO  |  Program Associate

SOOIN LEE  |  Program Associate
AKEMI INOUE | Accounting Officer
NATSUKI YAMANO | Accounting Officer
PATRICK ISHIYAMA  |  Digital and Print Production Officer
SACHIKO AOKI  | Senior Associate
YOJIRO ISHII  | Senior Associate
MASAHARU SAITO  | Senior Associate
KANA KANEKO   | Program Associate
AKIO KOBAYASHI | Computer Systems & Technology

SENIOR & RESEARCH FELLOWS

GERALD L. CURTIS | Senior Fellow
KEIZO TAKEMI | Senior Fellow
KOJI WATANABE | Senior Fellow
HITOSHI TANAKA | Senior Fellow
RYO SAHASHI | Research Fellow

Board of Directors

(as of NOVEMBER 2022)
GERALD L. CURTIS  | Professor Emeritus, Columbia University
AIKO DODEN  | Senior Commentator, Japan Broadcasting Corporation
KATSUMI HIRANO  | Chief Senior Researcher, Inter-disciplinary Studies, Institute of Developing Economies (IDE), Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO)
HARUHIKO HIRATE | Vice President, Dentsu Group Inc.
SATOKO ITOH  | Managing Director and Chief Program Officer, JCIE
ISAO KANO  |  Senior Advisor, Corporate Staff Section, Mitsubishi Corporation
RYOZO KATO  | Former Ambassador to the United States of America
TAKESHI KIMURA  | Special Adviser to the Board, Corporate Planning Department, Global Business Department, Nippon Life Insurance Company; Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) Board Director
HIDEKO KATSUMATA  | Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer, JCIE
CHRISTOPHER J. LaFLEUR  | Chairman, American Chamber of Commerce in Japan (ACCJ); President, LM Associates
TOSHIHIRO MENJU  | Managing Director and Chief Program Officer, JCIE
AKIO OKAWARA  | President and Chief Executive Officer, JCIE 
KYOKO SHIMADA  | Former Executive Director, Yokohama Arts Foundation
YUKIO TAKASU  | UN Undersecretary-General for Management; former Permanent Representative to the United Nations

Board of Counselors

TAKAKO AMEMIYA President & Chief Executive Officer, Japan Association of Charitable Organizations
KEIKO CHINO  | Contributing Editor, Sankei Shimbun
KUNIHIKO FUJII  |  Executive Vice President, Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance Co., Ltd.
SHINJI FUKUKAWA  | Senior Advisor, Global Industrial and Social Progress Research Institute; former Vice Minister, Ministry of International Trade and Industry
YASUTERA HIRAI | Director, Executive Vice President, Corporate Functional Officer, Global Strategy, Chief Compliance Officer, Officer for Emergency Crisis Management Headquarters, Mitsubishi Corporation
MITSUKO HORIUCHI  | President, Kitakyushu Forum on Asian Women; former Assistant Director-General of the International Labour Organization (ILO)
SEMAYA DAVID JONATHAN  |  Director & Co-chairman, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Asset Management Co., Ltd.
AKIRA KOJIMA  | Advisor, Japan Center for Economic Research
MOTOKO MEKATA  | Professor, Chuo University
TETSUO NARUKAWA  | Outside Director, Nippon Soda Co., Ltd.
KOJI TSURUOKA | Former Ambassador to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
ATSUSHI YAMAKOSHI | Managing Director, Keizai Koho Center/Japan Institute for Social and Economic Affairs

Auditors

KEIKICHI HONDA  | Chairman, EFI Japan K.K.
HISATO HOSHI  | Corporate Advisor, Benesse Holdings, Inc.