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

ISAO KANO  | President & Chief Executive Officer
SATOKO ITOH  | Managing Director & Chief Program Officer

MIKA TAKAHASHI | Executive Secretary  

HIFUMI TAJIMA  | Chief Program Officer
TOMOKO SUZUKI  | Chief Program Officer
HYEJIN LEE  |  Chief Program Officer
DAI FUNAKI  | Senior Program Officer
MOMOKO ABE  |  Program Officer
KANA KANEKO   | Program Officer
HIROMI KAWANO |  Program Officer

SHIGEKO KONDO  |  Program Officer

MASAHARU (MARC) SAITO  | Program Officer
RYO TAINAKA  |  Program & Administrative Officer
YOSHITAKA NISHINO  |  Research Officer
AKEMI INOUE | Administrative Officer
SACHIKO AOKI  | Senior Associate
NAO ISHIKAWA  | Program Associate
NOOR FARAHNAZ (FARAH) ABU MANSOR  | Program Associate
PATRICK ISHIYAMA  |  Digital and Print Production Officer
NATSUKI YAMANO | Accounting Associate

SENIOR & RESEARCH FELLOWS

GERALD L. CURTIS | Senior Fellow
KEIZO TAKEMI | Senior Fellow
HITOSHI TANAKA | Senior Fellow
RYO SAHASHI | Research Fellow
HIDEKO KATSUMATA  | Co-founder & Fellow

Board of Directors

(as of Oct 1, 2024)
GERALD L. CURTIS  | Professor Emeritus, Columbia University
HARUHIKO HIRATE | Vice President, Dentsu Group Inc.
SATOKO ITOH  | Managing Director and Chief Program Officer, JCIE
ISAO KANO  |  President and Chief Executive Officer, JCIE 
RYOZO KATO  | Former Ambassador to the United States of America
TAKESHI KIMURA  | Executive Officer, Special Adviser to the Board (Sustainability Planning Office), Nippon Life Insurance Company; Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) Board Director
CHRISTOPHER J. LaFLEUR  | Chairman, American Chamber of Commerce in Japan (ACCJ); President, LM Associates
KYOKO SHIMADA  | Former Executive Director, Yokohama Arts Foundation
YUKIO TAKASU  | Former 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 Holdings, Inc.
SHINJI FUKUKAWA  | Senior Advisor, Global Industrial and Social Progress Research Institute; former Vice Minister, Ministry of International Trade and Industry
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.
YUTAKA KASHIWAGI  | Director, Executive Vice President, Corporate Functional Office, Human Resources, Global Planning and Coordination, IT, Mitsubishi Corporation
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 | Former 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.