Executive Impact
Angela Ortiz: Helping budding leaders become more positive and resilient to challenges
Having set up non-profit organization Place to Grow in 2011 to support communities affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami, Angela Ortiz is sharing her experience to help others. Her newly launched book, "Place to Grow: 8 Principles That Will Make You An Effective Leader in Social Impact,"… Read
Launching and nurturing an online community In Japan
For evidence of the power of a simple idea, hard work and perseverance, look to Amanda McCready. Arriving in Tokyo six years ago with no know-how or contacts, the stay-at-home mom set up Tokyo Expat Network (TEN) to help others in her situation. Today the Facebook group has some 26,000… Read
Puroland director maps out a future for 'kawaii' culture
Established in 1990, Sanrio’s now 30-year-old theme park Puroland has led the global kawaii culture scene side by side with its parent company for over decades. In 2019, when their theme park business was facing a downturn, Aya Komaki, 60, became the first female director of Puroland, as well as… Read
Cryotherapy — Cold is the new hot
When you think of freezing yourself in a -180 degrees Celsius chamber, you instantly associate it with a scene from a sci-fi film - someone is frozen in a time capsule and wakes up 100 years later. Whole body cryotherapy is a form of non-contact cold remedy in which you… Read
Culture of change: GSK’s journey for better health, teamwork and communication
Long before Covid-19 turned the business world upside down and presented the healthcare industry with one of its greatest challenges, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) was transforming how teams work together. The UK-headquartered, science-based pharmaceutical and healthcare firm’s global team researches, develops and manufactures innovative pharmaceutical medicines, vaccines and consumer healthcare products. Behind everything they do… Read
Priyanka Yoshikawa: From Miss World Japan to entrepreneur in the wellness world
From moving from Japan to the States to India all before the age of 10, to being picked on at school for looking different to winning the 2016 Miss World Japan title—and being the first half—Japanese contestant to do so, Priyanka Yoshikawa is the definition of resilience. While she’s been… Read
The human touch: Cisco Japan President Dave West on saving your business and community
Covid-19 has turned the business world on its head, and technology has become the lifeline to keep society running as efforts to slow the spread of the coronavirus force people apart. Online collaboration and secure communication are especially important, and American Chamber of Commerce in Japan (ACCJ) President’s Circle member company Cisco Systems G.K. is… Read
Shogo Suzuki: The CEO changing Japanese society’s attitude to ex-inmates
Japan’s prison system has been thrown into the spotlight in recent months thanks to the accusations against, and detention of, one Carlos Ghosn, illustrious ex-CEO of Nissan. This has exposed questionable practices such as “hostage justice”; forcing suspects into limbo through extended detention until they confess, irrespective of real guilt.… Read
Inspiring women: U.S.-raised entrepreneur nurtures work–life balance
Entrepreneur Megumi Iguchi always looked up to her parents as guiding lights for life’s journey. From childhood, Iguchi admired her father, an executive in a trading company, and her mother, a stay-at-home mom. Both, she told The ACCJ Journal, struck a good balance between success at work and stability at home, something… Read
Startup upstart: Help at last for ladies who launch
Ruriko Koko Sato never thought she’d become an entrepreneur, let alone help lead a community of women business founders. But as one of the creators of Startup Lady, that is precisely where she finds herself. Together with Startup Lady co-founders Moeko Suzuki, Amee Xu, and Steffie Harner, Sato is helping the association grow its influence across… Read
