Aki Matsukura graduated from the First Department of Literature at Waseda University. After working for a publishing company specializing in educational materials for 9 years, she started teaching Japanese in 2002. She is currently teaching classes at various Japanese language institutions and universities.

Mr. Larson was born in the United States and has lived and worked for over three years in Japan. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Theatre from the University of California at Santa Cruz, and a Master of Arts degree from San Diego State University in California, as well as a certification in TESOL. He is presently pursuing a PhD in Language and Information Sciences from the University of Tokyo.
Currently he teaches English at Scientific Education Group, and Overseas Training Center. He is also an avid writer, having written several plays for the stage and screen, and is now working on several projects, including a media-based curriculum for English language learners.

Andrew is a project management and corporate training professional with more than 15 years of direct experience. He has extensive experience in leading cross-cultural teams and building project management offices from the ground up. Andrew is a Certified Project Management Professional and Agile Scrum Master, and is fluent in reading and writing Japanese at the JLPT N1 level. He earned his MBA at Cornell University and completed the Project Management Certificate Program at UC Berkeley.

Andrew graduated from Goldmiths College in London and was a school music teacher before coming to Japan in the late 1990s to teach English. He holds a M.Ed TESOL from Temple University Japan Campus and has 20+ years of classroom experience. Andrew likes to focus on improving aspects of second-language speech, such as improving fluency and increasing intelligibility. He is also interested in reducing second-language speaker anxiety, especially for test-takers and presentation speakers.

Annette Karseras is a coach and trainer who develops leaders and teams at all levels of the organization from aspiring new talent to regional leads. She has trained with the Coach Training Institute (CTI), the Intercultural Communication Institute (ICI), Systems Coaching group in the Society for Organisational Learning (SOL), and is currently a member of ICF Japan and the Society for Intercultural Education, Training & Research (SIETAR). Annette completed her Masters degree at the University of Leicester, UK. Annette's courses focus on personal, professional and organizational change. Participants takeaway practical skills they can use 'tomorrow' & insights for strategic win-wins long-term. Based between the UK & Japan, she has worked with professionals from 50+ countries, uses working Japanese and legacy French alongside her mother tongue English, with-a-Welsh-lilt whenever the topic of rugby arises.

Mr. Blick has over 20 years of experience as a PR and marketing professional, consultant, corporate trainer and educator in numerous multi-cultural environments across a wide range of industries and has worked with some of the top brands in the world from consumer goods, finance and banking, automotive, transportation, and technology. He has extensive experience working in global and domestic PR agencies in Tokyo overseeing client services, leading account teams, and developing new and existing business. Mr. Blick is currently an independent PR and marketing consultant, and recruits for the industry through an independent boutique HR consulting firm. He is also a corporate advisor to Kowa Shoji Co., Ltd., a Japanese corporation primarily engaged in real estate, manufacturing, and import-export. Besides teaching PR and media relations at Temple University Japan's Continuing Education program, Mr. Blick lectures at Globis University MBA program and has taught various marketing courses at New York University SPS in Tokyo. He has also been a guest lecturer at Sophia University, International University of Japan MBA, and Aoyama Gakuin MBA, and he is frequently requested to speak at local professional events in and around Tokyo. Mr. Blick holds a Bachelor of Science in Business and Political Science from the University of Kansas.

Prior to financial futures trading, Antonella worked at various investment banks in their Global Markets divisions, originating, marketing, and structuring various derivatives transactions in multiple assets. She worked for Societe Generale, BNP Paribas, HSBC and Mizuho in New York, Paris and London and her expertise in risk management and derivatives led her to cover both corporate and institutional clients. She holds a BA from Fordham University in New York and a degree in Law from the College of Law and BPP Law in London. She has also attended various management courses at IMD Business School in Lausanne, Switzerland. Her two decades of experience in the financial markets includes dealing with all asset classes (FX, Equity, Fixed ncome, Credit, Weather Derivatives, and Life Settlements). Antonella started her career at the brokerage division of the Man Group in New York where she was focusing on marketing Fixed Income products to French Institutional clients. At HSBC she ran the Multi-Asset derivatives desk and focused on the European Institutional clientele.

Antonella is now focusing her efforts on establishing herself in Asia and is based in Tokyo, Japan.

Atsuko has taught a variety of Japanese language courses in the United States and Japan since 2011. She is adept at developing and implementing curriculum and helping students advance their understanding of Japanese language and culture. She prides herself in creating tutorial environments that accommodate the needs of each student. Atsuko earned a bachelor's degree in Japanese language and literature from Waseda University and a master's degree in Japanese Pedagogy from Columbia University in New York. As not only a teacher but also someone with experience learning a a foreign language in a foreign country, she understands the unique mixed feelings of anxiety and anticipation. Let Atsuko help improve your communication skills in Japanese, and discover the fun of language learning together.

Bavo Willems works internationally on architectural, art, interior and renovation projects and runs a creative studio in Yokosuka, Kanagawa. Recently, he has been working on several renovation projects and participated in expositions showing furniture design and installation art. In collaboration with 'Art Basics for Children', he designed various educational studios for, among others, the Margritte Museum in Brussels and the Chinese Pavilion in Brussels, a work by French 'Belle-Époque' architect Alexandre Marcel. Until 2008 he studied Architecture at the Saint-Lucas School of Architecture, Belgium, after obtaining his degree in Interior Design at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Belgium.

Betty is from Brisbane, Australia and has several years experience working in the hospitality industry. Her experience includes handling day to day operations, promotions, and customer service at a cafe, fine dining restaurant and the banquet department in a five star hotel in Brisbane. While front of house supervisor, at a catering service in London, she was also part of the management team. Betty came to Tokyo soon after completing her Master's Degree in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages. She has taught English for over twenty years - In Brisbane, Taipei, London and Tokyo. Betty is a supportive teacher who strives to help students feel comfortable. The experience and enthusiasm she brings to the classroom makes it the perfect environment for students to broaden their skills and knowledge.

Brian Bush is from Pennsylvania, USA and has lived in the UK, South America and, most recently, Japan, where he has worked as a university lecturer since 2016. He holds undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in English Literature and has published several articles on twentieth-century writers such as Samuel Beckett, James Joyce, and Vladimir Nabokov. Brian's background in literary studies strongly informs his teaching of creative writing. His teaching method is based on the idea that by studying the techniques of established fiction writers, students can develop their own craft and become expert writers themselves.

Chiyo Watabe holds a bachelor's degree in International and Cultural Studies from Tsuda College and a librarian certificate from Taisho University. She worked for Tsuda College library and Temple University Japan Campus library for thirty years. In addition to her career, she acquired a teacher's certificate of Taikanryu, modern style flower arrangement in 1978 and of Koryu, classic style flower arrangement in 1984. She has been (and still is) an adviser to the head of the school since 2005 and a member of Public Interest Incorporated Foundation Japan Ikebana Art Association since 2019. She has participated in various activities, especially Koryu Association Ikebana exhibitions for many years.

Christopher Rathbone currently works on international transactions with a large Japanese law firm in Tokyo, in addition to being an adjunct professor of Temple University of Japan Law School. He has worked as a legal translator since 2000 and taught classes and provided seminars on legal translation and legal writing for Japanese, Korean, Cambodian and US universities, as well as the Tokyo offices of many top US law firms. Mr. Rathbone graduated with honors from the University of Saskatchewan, earned a JD from the College of Law of the University of Saskatchewan and an LL.M. from Hokkaido University as a Monbusho Scholar. He is admitted as an attorney in Massachusetts.

Dan Sloan is a veteran multimedia journalist, who writes for Eurobiz Japan and other media after working at Reuters for 17 years. He is a frequent public speaker and commentator on current events, corporate communications and Japan for professional organizations and academic groups, a university instructor, and author of "Playing to Wiin: Nintendo and the Video Game Industry's Greatest Comeback." He is a former president of the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan and a current Board Member.

Dan Clapper is an applied linguist, learning architect and entrepreneur with 30 years of international experience. He graduated from Stanford University with a A.B. in English (Phi Beta Kappa), he earned an M.S. in Cybernetic Systems from San Jose State University and an M.S.Ed. in TESOL from Temple University Japan Campus. He now holds a Project Management Professional (PMP) certification. He has two decades of success as a manager of innovative educational projects at enterprise scale, including work with government, schools, universities and businesses in 16 countries. In 2004 he was invited by the US Department of Defense to speak on US foreign language education for the post 9/11 era. His company, provides consulting for global organizations on language training change management.

David Phillips earned his MAT in Applied Linguistics from the University of Southern California and has been working as an Academic English Instructor at Temple University Japan since 2016 and most recently, for the Multilingual and Communications Center at Meikai University. In addition to his university work, he also serves as an examiner for the Eiken Foundation of Japan throughout the year. Prior to living and teaching in Japan, he taught sociocultural anthropology to first-year undergraduates at the University of Washington and Intensive English courses at Seattle Pacific University for 5 years. David is focused on continuing to apply a sociocultural approach to every class lesson as a way to utilize student background knowledge and build co-created classrooms in which every student has opportunities to contribute and actively participate. When he is not teaching or publishing works on adapting materials for cultural responsiveness and autonomous learner development, David is working toward completing a doctorate degree in English Pedagogy at Murray State University and producing episodes for his YouTube channel called, "The Rhythm Circuit," which features a global listening base.

David W. Fingerote’s nearly two decades of experience teaching has allowed him to learn from and provide support to learners of all ages and various levels/backgrounds from many parts of the world. David trains, teaches, mentors, and consults, focusing on various topics related to learning. David aims to meet students where they are in their respective learning journeys. An M.Ed in TESOL coupled with a passion for testing and applying edtech innovations leads to sustainable learning opportunities for all course participants.

Doaa Zaher is a Business Consultant and Lecturer with over 10 years experience in helping businesses achieve their goals. She holds a PhD in Knowledge Management, an MBA and Masters in Economics all acquired within the past 5 years. Her expertiseare in healthcare knowledge management, and business consulting for various industries, focusing on business improvement processes and strategy implementation, particularly for multinational companies.

Dominic Carter is a working market research practitioner and entrepreneur with over 25 years experience (20 of those in Japan). He is the representative director and CEO of the Carter Group, which includes market research firm CarterJRMN. His education and early career was spent in Australia, and he has lived and worked in Japan since 1999. Dominic has extensive experience in cultural marketing adaptation, communications testing, brand development, brand tracking and consumer research. He also lectures for the Japan Market Expansion Competition in the areas of marketing and marketing research.

Doug Strable started teaching and working remotely in Japan 25 years ago, keeping sales teams and clients in broadcast television and tele-education updated with real-time product training and sales support. His volunteer work with junior high school students, their families, and school leavers led him to return to school online, and earn a Master of Arts degree in Learning and Technology from Royal Roads University, Canada. He is passionate about how learning online creates an environment that motivates students to develop, challenge, and share diverse ideas.
Doug has been actively developing engaging online programs for post-secondary instructors and corporations in Canada and Japan and helping instructors move their classes online during the COVID-19 pandemic.
He just published a Japanese language version of Teaching in a Digital Age, by Dr. Tony Bates, to guide for instructors understand the changes they need to implement to engage students in learning online and in the classroom.

As founder and director of Concept Design, Ed Thompson works with multinational clients in Asia-Pacific providing strategic services covering marketing, business and partnership development with a focus on emerging digital technology.

With more than 20 years in Japan, he has built solid experience handling the varied challenges leading multicultural, cross-functional teams at all levels of global organizations, to consistently deliver positive outcomes for corporate initiatives.

He continues to assist both domestic and multi-national corporations in increasing brand awareness through the planning of effective digital and marketing strategies, customer loyalty programs, lead generation campaigns and advertising promotions.

Eric Ritter has a Master's degree from Columbia University in New York in International Affairs and a Bachelors degree in Economics from SUNY-Oswego. He spent over 20 years in business as a financial analyst and lived in Thailand, Singapore and Hong Kong before moving to Tokyo in 2013. He specializes in teaching business English in particular effective speaking and writing skills. He has written articles on business for various publications including the Nikkei Asian Review and the Japan Times. In his spare time, he likes to play tennis and listen to jazz.

Flavio has over 25 years of experience working in marketing and hi-tech business areas at global corporations in his native Brazil, Europe and Japan. Working directly and indirectly with brands such as Ambev, Adidas, Panasonic, Warner Music among others during his professional career, he is now an entrepreneur, founder and CEO of Fullcircle Innovation - A digital marketing startup agency based in Tokyo. Fullcircle has a strong presence on the social media space, working with influencers, developing apps as well as state of the art websites communities focused on green-eco-technology-science related issues. Fullcircle has won the Innovation Award in Asia from Red Herring on the year in 2010. Flavio holds a double master degree (e-business and MBA) from the International University of Japan (IUJ), Niigata, Japan.

Fred Myers has been surrounded by and involved with music all his life. His interest in musicals began when in high school he lived 200 meters from large public amphitheater where musicals were staged every summer. He also belonged to various choral groups throughout high school and university days, while often participating in performances, including Smetana's The Bartered Bride, Brukner's Te Deum with the Pittsburgh Philharmonic, and Carl Orff's Carmina Burana while in Katmandu, Nepal. Later, he taught courses on the singing of musicals at Sophia University as well as Temple University, Japan Campus. A wide variety of musicals were studied in depth and sung, including: Aspects of Love, Cats, Fiddler on the Roof, Grease, Hair, Jesus Christ Superstar, Les Miserables, Metropolis, Miss Saigon, My Fair Lady, Phantom of the Opera, Porgy and Bess, Tommy, Sound of Music, The King and I, and West Side Story. He also worked as a professional super/extra for major operas and ballets that had tours in Japan, including American Ballet Theater, Deutsche Berlin Opera, Leningrad Opera, Metropolitan Opera, New York City Ballet, Paris Opera, Paris Opera Ballet, Royal Ballet, Royal Opera and Venice Opera.

Giorgio joined Walk Japan as a Tour Leader in 2015, and since 2017 he has served as Walk Japan's Tour Operations Manager. Originally from Italy, we first gained exposure to Japan at the age of 12, when he started an 8-year long pepen-pal friendship. He went on to pursue Japanese Studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, and spent an exchange year in Japan. He returned to Japan after graduation and travelled the country extensively as an English language tutor. The experience, he says, was an eye-opener as to how the education system and wider society functions in Japan. While recruiting English teachers from the UK, USA, Canada and Australia from his base in Tokyo, he has travelled the length and breadth of the nation. In his free time, Giorgio enjoys cooking, particularly Italian and Japanese cuisine, for friends.

Grant Black holds a BA Highest Honors in Religious Studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara; an MA in Japanese Buddhist Studies from the University of California, Los Angeles; and a Doctor of Social Science (DSocSci) from the Department of Management in the School of Business at the University of Leicester. After an early focus on Japanese Buddhist studies, his recent career trend is as global manager, systems builder, executive leader and university professor. Dr Black is a Chartered Manager (CMgr), the highest status that can be achieved in the management profession in the UK. In 2018, he was elected a Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute (FCMI) and Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA). He serves as a vice president and auditor for the International Academic Forum
(IAFOR).

Hayato Yasuzawa is a bilingual MBA and executive coach with 20 years' experience in HR management including compensation and benefit, recruiting, talent management and employee relations. He served for 6 years as Group General Manager-HR of North Asia region for one of the world's biggest dairy companies. Before that, he was previously a management consultant at Deloitte Consulting and HR strategy consultant at PricewaterhouseCoopers. He has also worked as a learning and development manager for a global pharmaceutical company. With front-line business experience closely working with both Japanese and foreign senior executives in global companies, he deeply understands the challenges to make a balance between the representation of local markets while meeting requirements from Global Headquarters. He has been working closely with lawyers to mitigate the risks of labor issues in companies. He is very passionate to develop strong HR professionals and business leaders who are keen on creating "a great place to work" for employees in their respective companies. He earned his MBA degree from George Washington University, and LLB from Ritsumeikan University. He is also a graduate of The Columbia Coaching Certification program, Teachers College Columbia University.

Hideaki Saito has earned an AA from Peninsula College, a B.A. in anthropology from Moorhead State University, and M.A. in cultural anthropology from University of Oregon. After having taught English in language schools, he has been a part time English instructor at a Japanese University since 2003. In his free time, he enjoys working-out, riding a motorcycle, dancing Salsa and doing magic.

Hiroko is the director of Walk 100 Physio pain rehabilitation and treatment center. For ten years she worked at the JCHO Tokyo Shinjuku Medical Center, where she treated a wide range of clinical cases including hemiplegia, spinal cord injury, knee and hip replacement operations, all kinds of fracture and ligament injuries, Parkinson's Disease, COPD, and diabetes education. Prior to that, she treated sports injuries and undertook preventative care for athletes at Konami Sports Club Meguro Aobadai Osteopathic Clinic. She specializes in pain rehabilitation based on MDT (Mechanical Diagnosis and Therapy) techniques, more widely known as the McKenzie Method. Self-care based rehabilitation programs are very effective for those with joint and muscle pain, and MDT is one of the best such treatment methods.
Hiroko also organizes the Tokyo Medical English/Japanese for Healthcare Professionals, a forum for discussion and learning where medical staff from Japan and overseas can interact in English and Japanese for medical purposes.

Ivan Botev, PhD, currently teaches at the Department of International Communication and Culture, Toita Women's College, Tokyo. Ivan does research in Primary, Language, and Higher Education, as well as in Picturebook Studies and Community Development. His team's current project is 'Exploring the Art of Living Together in 21st Century Ethnically Diverse Europe: Fostering Strong Sense of Belonging, Living in Harmony with One Another, and Integrating Refugees' funded by the Toyota Foundation.

James Elwood is an associate professor in the Faculty of Interdisciplinary Mathematical Sciences at Meiji University, where he also serves as a deputy director of the International Student Office. He obtained his doctorate in TESOL from Temple University and works as an adjunct professor there as well as at GRIPS and Chiba University. His research interests include writing assessment, psycholinguistics, technology in education, and psychometrics, especially in the area of structural equation modeling. When not working, he enjoys baseball, cooking, and puppetry.

John has been instructing an array of business management courses in Continuing Education at Temple University Japan since 2007. He is also an adjunct professor of business management at the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT). John has had a varied career working as a stockbroker and investment advisor, in information systems and e-commerce management, launching and managing a business with employees, as a project manager with Microsoft and in public relations with Toys 'R' Us Japan. He has written business plans and consulted on business start-ups, and written for several publications and published two books: "Making Conversation" and "Milo, the Closet Monster and the Anti-Monster Society" in support of his Anti-Monster Society. John has a BA in Economics from the University of British Columbia, an MBA from Deakin University, a Certificate (with honors) in Electronic Commerce Management from BCIT and is a member of the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM).

Jack Leaver graduated with a Bachelor degree (1970) in Architecture and from the University of Oklahoma. He practiced architecture for 6 years and returned to study for his Master's of Architecture at the University of Oklahoma and received it in 1978. At the same time he acquired his architectural license in Oklahoma. He began teaching Architecture at different Universities in the USA that included Hampton University, Louisiana State University and The University of Louisiana at Lafayette. While continuing to practice and teach he came to Japan, initially starting a small internship program with his university and various architectural offices in Tokyo.He eventually remained in Tokyo and worked for two architecture firms and after receiving his Japanese Architectural license and opened his own office in Tokyo. Since 1981 he has been teaching computer graphics, andthis has developed into one of his specialties as well as design.

Johnathan McCaskill is a US-qualified lawyer with nearly 20 years of experience, including over 15 years of international law practice. He has worked as a lawyer for several international organizations including the United Nations (UN) and the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), where he has advised on human rights laws, criminal investigations and prosecution tactics.

Julie currently serves as HRBP for the North Asia Region at Bolloré Logistics.She is an HR professional with experience in multiple national contexts and fluency in a range of languages. Julie has a proven track record of delivering talent acquisition, development, and management results with diverse teams across Japan, Europe and the US in both in-house and external settings. This has included rapidly scaling up operations of high growth startups, time with the Global Talent Management team at Nissan, and as a freelance recruiter. She also spends time coaching early stage start-ups on scaling sustainably. Julie has a BA in Industrial Relations from McGill University and an MSc in Business Administration from the University of Amsterdam Business School.

Karl is a Beauty, Dance and Fashion photographer from Ireland. He has lived and worked in London, Paris and New York, now residing in Tokyo. Along the journey Karl has worked with many celebrities and designers including Iman, Keith Richards & Thierry Mugler, including publications from all around the world. Fine Art Exhibits in NYC, L.A and Tokyo with works from Nomadic Worlds and Secret Desires. He is now working on new projects capturing Japanese Modern Day Culture.

Kathleen Schmitz began working at Temple University Japan in the early 1990s and continued working full time until July 2015. During that time she was at different periods, an Assistant Director in the Intensive English Language Program, part of the team which launched the Corporate Education Business English program, an instructor in the Academic Preparation Program, an instructor in the START and BRIDGE programs, and the Academic Coordinator for the Bridge Program. Currently she is teaching part time in the Bridge Program. She has a master's degree in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages, and has especially enjoyed working with content related courses. She began working with Continuing Education soon after the NGO program was expanded in the later 1990s. From Fall 2006 – Fall 2018, she did additional support work as a faculty coordinator in the program. She is from the United States, and before coming to Tokyo worked at the Texas Intensive English Program in Austin, Texas. She has also taught English in Mexico and Malaysia. She has an MA in Intercultural Education/TESOL.

Kazuyoshi Hisano is the President of both Conoway, Inc. and the Feed Forward Association, and the Vice President of Cognitive Coaching Association. He is an entrepreneur and has vast experience in domestic and multinational companies (i.e. Tyco Electronics, Philips, and Bureau Veritas), where he played various management roles. Before starting Conoway, Inc. he served as COO and Executive Managing Director at ProFuture, Inc. He has coached thousands of people in the past 30 years, and has launched "CEO Coaching", his only one on one CEO and equivalent coaching service. His work is backed by cognitive science, the study of "how the human brain works". He is author of several business-related books, including CEO Coaching, Gold Vision, and Feed Forward. His goal is to provide pro-bono coaching services for people in underdeveloped countries. Kazuyoshi has acquired Bachelor's in Economics from Tokyo University and an MBA from Tsukuba University (top of the class).

Besides delving in government think tank and management consulting, Dr. Sharma has spent more than 10 years doing macro-economic research and teaching, at premier institutions such as Jawaharlal Nehru University, University of Tokyo and London School of Economics. Till April 2012, he worked at the Tokyo headquarter of Daiwa Capital Markets, as Director in the Corporate Finance Department. Thereafter he has delved in full time academics teaching Finance and Economics at some of the renowned business schools in Asia, including Doshisha Business School.

Dr. Sharma runs an investment Advisory. He had worked as a newscaster with NHK World Radio Japan for 13 years and advises a number of alternative investment ventures. In 2006 he co-founded a rural primary education initiative in India. He has published in top-notch academic journals, edited books and newspapers.
He holds a Ph.D. in financial economics.

Marni Cueno holds a M.Sc. in Molecular Biology and Biotechnology from the University of the Philippines (Los Banos) and a PhD in Medical Science from Nagoya City University Graduate School of Medical Sciences. He has also obtained certifications in TESOL (Teaching English as a Secondary Language) from Arizona State University and Data Analytics from Temple University (Ambler campus). Currently a Research Scientist at Nihon University School of Dentistry, he has authored several manuscripts published in peer-reviewed international journals. He has received international awards and fellowships from the Bill Gates Foundation (USA), Wellcome Trust (UK), Society for Free Radical Research (SFFR)-Asia, and Singaporean Society for Immunology (SgSI). In his spare time, he teaches computer-based image analytics, network analytics, and structural analytics to high school students studying in an international school and, likewise, assists both undergraduate and graduate students from varying universities with English-related tasks, such as: manuscript writing and editing, business correspondence writing, oral and poster presentations, and TOEFL preparation.

A British English teacher, instructor and examiner from Birmingham, England. Martin Mayne has been in Japan for 18 years and has worked for a number of companies and schools both in corporate training and exam preparation. He is currently active as an examiner at the Nihon Eigo Kentei Kyokai and as an instructor for a number of companies. In what little free time he can squeeze in, he enjoys running, cycling, keeping fit and Indian food.

Masatoshi Hirakata has more than 20 years of leadership experience in various business units' functions and management positions in Asia Pacific and international IT business area. He earned a BA in Electrical & Electronics Engineering from Sophia University and an MA in Economics from Temple University Japan. He has been teaching in the Continuation Education program at Temple University for more than 10 years. Recently he started a series of AI and statistics courses using Python and R. He also enjoys Skiing for many years and has recently become interested in Skiing as a lifetime sport and its relationship with preventive medicine. He studied physical conditioning, fitness methodology, and skiing technical reference at Canadian Sport Business Academy. He holds SAJ Skiing class 1 certificate, Canadian Skiing Instructor Association Level 2 certificate, and Avalanche Skill Training 1 certificate from Avalanche Canada.

Maurizio is the founder and CEO of Finetiq Limited, a management consulting firm focused on the FinTech industry and active in Japan and Hong Kong. Maurizio has over 20 years of international finance experience, with expertise in credit derivatives, structured finance and fund management. Prior to Finetiq, Maurizio's most recent roles were as Managing Director at UniCredit, Italy's largest bank, and as Partner at TriSpan LLP, an asset management firm based in London, where he was deputy Chief Investment Officer of TriSpan's global macro fund. Maurizio holds an Mphil in Financial Economics from the University of Cambridge and a first class honours degree in Economics and Management from Royal Holloway College of the University of London.

May May Ho qualified as a Fellow Chartered Accountant ("FCA") under the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) in 2007 after training with Ernst and Young in London. She is a UK and Singapore Chartered Accountant and holds an MSc in International Business from the University of Lancaster, UK. She has experience in financial auditing at Ernst and Young before moving on to regulatory reporting at Merrill Lynch and later the Royal Bank of Scotland. Since 2011 she has embarked on an academic and writing career drawing on her experiences and expertise. Away from work May May enjoys fashion and travelling.

Mete Yazici is a tri-lingual and multi-cultural professional living and working in Japan. He has worked in Financial Services, Insurance, IT/Software, and Legal Services as a senior leader for more than 22 years before transitioning to Leadership Coaching and Training. Mete's current mission is to help companies and leaders drive sustainable growth.
He is a holder of International Coach Federation's Professional Certified Coach (PCC) accreditation, in addition to M.Sc. In Psychology from California Southern University, MBA from International University of Japan, and Certificate in NGO Management from Temple University. He is currently working to become a Doctor of Psychology (PsyD.)
His interests cover a wide range of topics such as Positive Psychology, Mindfulness and its applications in daily business, Psychology of Aging, Cross-Cultural Psychology, Inclusion and Integration of Foreigners, Social Leadership, and Creativity by Improvisation.

Mieko Watanabe is director of bilingual architectural and interior design services wAtelier LLC and Tokyo Design Collaborative (TDC) in Daikanyama, Tokyo, and a faculty member at IES Abroad Tokyo, where she teaches college courses on architecture and photography. Ongoing projects include new builds of boutique hotels and retail rebranding in Vietnam, and various residential projects in Tokyo. wAtelier and TDC offer design solutions that address owner identity, practicality, and site uniqueness, with full attention to detail from code requirements to construction documentation. Mieko earned her Master of Architecture from Yale University School of Architecture and a B.A. from Columbia College, Columbia University.

Min Lu was born in Shanghai and is fluent in Chinese, English and Japanese. She is an expert in the area of Second Language Learning/Acquisition and is a well experienced educator. She has more than 18 years of experience in the Language Education. She has a master's degree in Education and has experience teaching Mandarin Chinese, English and Japanese from Beginner level courses to the Advanced level courses. She started teaching Chinese courses in the TUJ Continuing Education Program from Spring 2004. She is also working as the Administrative Director of TUJ's Graduate College of Education since July 2011. Before she was appointed to her current position, she was working as a Deputy Director at Temple University Beasley School of Law, Japan Campus.

Ming Tam is a translator and editor from Canada who works mainly in technical, medical, scientific, and academic fields. She earned a Master of Arts degree in Translation Studies from Portsmouth University, U.K., and a Bachelor of Science degree in Microbiology and Immunology from McGill University, Canada. She has work experience in biotech and pharma research as well as teaching. She has a passion for figuring out creative strategies to deal with hard-to-translate terms and culture-specific items, especially food terms, to bridge the gap between languages and cultures and facilitate communication.
Her goal is to help students learn not only practical translation skills, but also to translate with awareness of the purpose of translations and the role translators play in an increasingly globalized world.

Ms. Lin was born in Taiwan. She received her MA in School of Chinese as a Second Language at Peking University in 2012. She is now a Ph.D. candidate at the same university. From 2010 to 2019, she taught Chinese in Taiwan, Beijing, USA, and Japan. Her research interests include teaching Chinese to foreigners and people with Chinese heritage and analyzing Chinese teaching materials. She is a member of The Japan Association of Chinese Language Education - 中国語教育学会. She enjoys learning Chinese together with students and is good at connecting teaching to student's real world experiences. She likes Chinese food, bubble tea, and singing Chinese songs.

Dr. Nagisa Todoroki obtained her BA from Sophia University, Tokyo and Master and Doctor of Education (M.Ed., Ed.D) degrees in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages)/Applied Linguistics from Temple University. She has been working as a professional simultaneous interpreter (SI) and technical translator for over 20 years, and she is also the President of En Clair Inc., a professional conference interpreting and translation agency. She initially started working as an NHK interpreter, NTV satellite simultaneous interpreter, TBS translator, etc. She has also worked for over 300 major private corporations, major international conferences, and various governments. She has also involved in marketing and PR agency assignments for over 20 years and has been taking over 1,000 simultaneous interpreting assignments for media presentations and press conferences to date.

Nami began classical ballet training at the age of 5 with Matsuyama Ballet Company and continued her training with numerous teachers and studios throughout her life. In 1994, she moved to the USA to study dance and academics, receiving a B.A. in International Business and Psychology and later received MEd in the Globalization of Education. During her years in the US, she studied ballet and modern dance under the tutelage of major dance mentors including Katherine Horn, Mary Anne Mee, Patricia Mc Bride, and Jean-Pierre Bounnefoux. In 1997, she received a scholarship from the Joffery Ballet School in NYC. From 1998-2000 she danced professionally with the North Carolina Dance Theatre, and from 1999-2000 with The Moving Poets. She has taught ballet and creative movement as well as choreographed for numerous ballet schools in the US, including as an adjunct professor at Point Park University of the Performing Arts in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania from 2004 - 2013. Returning to Tokyo in 2013 she has been a Performing Arts teacher at Aoba-Japan International School. Nami is currently researching in the link between EQ (Emotional Intelligence) and Dance through kinesthetic empathy.

Nanae Kurita earned her M.A. in Clinical Psychology at International Christian University (ICU) in Tokyo. She is a licensed Certified Clinical Psychologist (from the Foundation of the Japanese Certification Board for Clinical Psychologists). She has experience working as a counselor, a psychotherapist, and a group psychotherapist for adolescents and adults, and is currently designing and conducting research at ICU Education Research Center. Her main areas of research are mechanisms of adolescent creativity, identity formation in multi-cultural environments, group dynamics for facilitating personality growth and identity formation, personality development of women, and healthy narcissism. She has also worked as an interpreter at international conferences and seminars in psychology.

Naoto Okamura is a freelance reporter-cum-translator. He earned a BA in intercultural communication from Dokkyo University and an MA from Waseda University with focus on journalism and international relations. For over two decades, he has worked as a translator in Tokyo and Hong Kong and has also had stints at English-language media outlets, such as the Wall Street Journal, Reuters, Nikkei Asian Review, and Automotive News, covering various news about Japan in English. His motto is that translation is not about switching words from one language into another. It is a form of cross-cultural communication. As such, translators need to bridge different worlds of perception and therein lies the beauty and challenge of the trade. He hopes to help students to grasp an intended meaning or message behind words and develop their overall translation/writing skills in both Japanese and English.

Nobuyoshi Kotani earned a master's degree in Applied Linguistics (specializing in TESOL) and Translation/Interpreting at Macquarie University, Australia in 2014. He also obtained CELTA at Bell International College, U.K. in 2016, as well as a Postgraduate certificate in TEAP (Teaching English for Academic Purposes) at the University of Leicester, UK in 2018. Nobuyoshi has over 10-year teaching experience of general English, academic English, English discussion and IELTS preparation to senior high school students, undergraduates and adult learners. His publications include various test preparation books for IELTS, TOEFL iBT, and EIKEN.

Norm Farrell has been teaching English to non-native speakers since 1970. He came to Japan in 1972 and has been here ever since. He worked in language schools and at a Japanese high school until 1992 when he got a master's degree in English education from Temple University in Japan. He then taught as tenured teacher and as a part-time teacher in various Japanese universities until 2015. He has been in the continuing education department for eight years.
Norm's main interests are reading, nature and languages. Before becoming a teacher he worked two years as a seasonal park ranger. In the United States, and here in Japan he often goes hiking in the hills west of Tokyo, enjoying being outdoors and seeing what plants and birds he might be able to find. He lived in Europe for three years as a teenager and there developed a passion for languages. He speaks several and finds language learning to be a sort of game - and he feels himself fortunate to have a profession in which he can help others to play the same game.

Norman is a corporate executive coach, facilitator and HR consultant with a BSc in Civil Engineering from the University of Manitoba. He has around 30 years of working experience in the Asia Pacific Region namely in China, Korea and Japan. Motivated by his great interest in Asian history and cultures, he has accumulated a vast and diversified first-hand experience. Having lived and worked in Asia for such a long time, he has provided a variety of customized experiential workshops to a wide number of multinationals in various sectors. In addition, he conducts an annual seminar on Diversity and Inclusion at the ICS center in Hitotsubashi University which is attended by students taking the MBA Program.

Pablo Figueroa (PhD) is an Argentinean-born cultural anthropologist specializing in Japanese studies. He has lived in Japan for over fifteen years and currently teaches at various prestigious universities in Tokyo. His research looks at the crossing of photographic images with contemporary history in Japan and how the camera can be used to explore social responses to cultural change. Previously, Pablo was a full-time assistant professor at Waseda University where he conducted classes on globalization, social change, perceptions of Japan in the world, and contemporary disasters. His work on risk communication, citizen participation, and risk governance of the Fukushima nuclear catastrophe was featured in several scholarly publications.

Professor Rosenkjar is an expert in various aspects of linguistics, language teaching methods, and literature. He has a bachelor's degree from Georgetown University in German language studies; a master's degree from San Francisco State University in English, with a concentration in language teaching and in American and British literature; and a doctorate from Temple University in second language education. He has published in the areas of content-based English teaching, designing English reading courses for Japanese students, research and theory of curriculum and course design, and understanding poetry. His interests include culture studies, history, linguistic theory, and literary texts; and he reads extensively for pleasure and professional enrichment in these areas. He has been a full-time faculty member of Temple University Japan Campus since 1988.

Originally from Toronto (Canada), Paul Kates has over 20 years of diverse professional experience. After the completion of his MBA from the Schulich School of Business at York University, he began his career in the Entrepreneurial Services Practice of Ernst & Young, providing accounting, auditing, and consulting services to a wide variety of businesses. He then moved on to management positions for companies operating in both the consumer goods and hospitality sectors, including a Fortune 500 company, where he was engaged primarily in marketing, sales, customer service, and merchandising activities. Paul arrived in Tokyo in 2006 and has spent the majority of his time here as a University Instructor and Corporate Trainer. Among other things, he teaches an assortment of business courses and workshops at TUJ.

Peggy has more than 10 years of experience teaching French as a foreign language at various universities and institutes in Japan. She holds masters degrees in both Teaching French as a Foreign Language and Public Management. An experienced educator from Southern France, she enjoys sharing her way of living and spontaneity, and is passionate about motivating students to speak and discover the world in French!

Robert Garone has lived in Japan and worked in the Japanese financial services industry for over 25 years. He started as a credit analyst with Citibank, moved into equity analysis at UBS and Dresdner Kleinwort Benson, and was the Japan Representative for Frontpoint Partners (a hedge fund purchased by Morgan Stanley) between 2005-2007. He now works as an equity analyst at Optimal Fund Management and periodically conducts finance seminars for Japanese companies. He also speaks Japanese and has taught Japanese-to-English translation at Simul International in 2013. Robert has a BA in Asian Studies from Colgate University and an MBA/MA (Asian Studies) from University of Virginia. In addition to his background in finance, Robert has had an interest in martial arts since high school, when he practiced both Taekwondo and Gojo-ryu karate. In 2014 he resumed his martial arts training, and has since earned a black belt (2 dan) in Uechi-ryu and become a certified instructor in Okinawan Uechi-ryu karate. He views karate as an art for self-defense as well as a means towards mental and physical well-being.

Ron Scott has been teaching English in and around Tokyo since arriving in Japan in July 2005. From Canada, Ron obtained both an honours Bachelor's degree in Drama and Psychology from McMaster University and a Master's in Drama Therapy from Concordia University.
An avid traveler, Ron travelled around the world on a cruise ship, running a recreational facility for children. Ron has also been acting and making people laugh since an early age, and is very active in the Tokyo English theatre community.
Due to his interest in acting, and particularly in comedy, Ron is very interested in and specializes in teaching both natural English and how we can use comedy and humor to communicate, connect, and create deeper relationships with others.

Santosh L. Gawande holds a Bachelor of Engineering (B.E.) degree from Mumbai (Bombay) University, India, and is a Certified Project Management Professional (PMP) and AWS Certified Solution Architect Associate. He is also Sun certified Java Programmer and Architect -1.

Currently he works in the financial sector as an Information Technology professional. During his entire professional career he primarily worked for Engineering, Insurance, E-Commerce and in financial domains developing various products using primarily Java, J2EE, C, C++, VB, Spring, UML, Oracle and other RDBMS along with Open-Source tools on Cloud, Unix, Linux and Windows platforms. His hobbies are researching, playing Chess, listening to music, hiking, sketching and animation.

Sarah Furuya is trained Relationship Systems Coach ORSC™, certified practitioner in Lumina Spark® and Saville Wave® Psychometrics and holds BSc Hons in Human Psychology and Biology. She has spoken at the HR conferences in Tokyo and Osaka on Leadership and protecting the female HR pipeline, delivered leadership programs in SE Asia and UK, has spoken at the Women's International Networking Conference and was President of FEW Japan 2011-13. She is founder and coach at Sarah Furuya Coaching delivering private and executive coaching and workshops. She is on the Board of Directors of Refugees International Japan.

Sarajean is a Tokyo-based consultant providing program coordination, training program facilitation, and capacity development advisory services for institutions such as JICA, Japan PlatForm, the Give2Asia Foundation, the Center for Global Partnership, Morgan Stanley, Sophia University and others seeking to gain strategic advantage while better meeting community needs and promoting more effective civic engagement. Sarajean's most recent training programs focus on CSR and SDGs, Unconscious Bias and Every day Sexism, Cross Cultural Communications and Basic Conflict Mediation skills development for international organizations and 2020 volunteers. She holds an undergraduate degree in sociology and a Master's in International Affairs with a focus on human rights in East Asia from Colombia University. She has also earned professional certificates in Disaster Management, Humanitarian Response Management and Conflict Mediation.

Born in Normandy, France, Sebastien Lemoine visited Japan in 1987 for the first time, as a business student. He fell in love with the surprising moments that never fail to come, when confronting Japanese people and their culture. For family or work purposes, he has travelled back and forth since, made Tokyo his home again in 2008.
In 2013, he put an end to his career as financial markets specialist. He invested time in proper training and research about one of his hobbies, nihonshu. Advanced Sake Professional (certification by the Sake Education Council), he embarked on sharing what he loves about Japanese sake and its culture with visitors and foreign residents. He produces workshops, events and tours, working with high end travel agents and international corporations. Sake consultant, sake teacher at French culinary school Le Cordon Bleu, Sebastien is hosting the Sake On Air first English language podcast about sake and shochu.

www.passerelle-s.com New Tab

http://sakeonair.com New Tab

Seungkeun spent several years as a language instructor in public schools in Korea, and served as an English-Korean interpreter during his military service. Living, working and traveling in a variety of international contexts has also helped him to better understand the needs of language learners. He received a Bachelor's of Education from Seoul National University of Education, and completed the M.S.Ed. in TESOL program at TUJ. He works as an English/Korean language facilitator at TeLaCo (Teikyo Language Commons) of Teikyo University now.

Shai is a Senior Vice President at GENKAI Capital Management- a trailblazing Japanese Asset Management Firm where he is also a member of the firm's managing committee. In addition, Shai is an adjunct professor of real estate at Temple University Japan campus and previously at New York University. He holds a master’s degree in real estate finance & Investment from New York University and a BA in Management & East Asian Studies (graduated Magna Cum Laude) from Tel Aviv University. Shai is a New York licensed real estate salesperson (inactive). Shai started his real estate career at a New York Investment Bank where he was involved in, well over, 12$US Billion in real estate debt and equity transactions. Upon returning to Japan, Shai joined Cushman & Wakefield where he pursued tenant representation, land acquisitions, equity raise, portfolio management and investment sales opportunities. While at C&W Shai was the recipient of the Broker of the Year, the Transaction of the Year Office/Logistics and the Deal of the Year (across all business lines) excellence awards.

Takuo Misaki is a Japanese licensed attorney who handles a wide variety of litigation and disputes, and has extensive experience representing foreign clients who are involved in disputes in Japan. He also regularly represents both employers and employers in labor disputes and his experience in the area of labor law also extends to the drafting and revising of rules of employment, conducting investigations in incidents of employment misconduct and representing employers during collective bargaining. He also handles medical malpractice suits, divorce, criminal cases and other commercial litigation.

Terumi is an IT and global business consultant with customers both in Japan and in the US. Her workshops at TUJ include Business Communications, Speak with Confidence, Assertiveness, Information Security and others. She has a BSE in Computer Science from Arizona State University and MBA/MA in International Management from the Wharton School/University of Pennsylvania. She has served in the US Army as a Military Police Officer, a Navy liaison officer for the Mutual Defense Assistance Office in the US Embassy in Japan, and head of consulting businesses at Symantec and RSA in Japan. Her advocation is dog training and handmade soap. Her current professional interest is in Blockchain security.

Todd Birzer has more than 25 years of experience as a product manager and product management leader at Silicon Valley and West Coast US companies. Todd is the author of Becoming a More Strategic Product Manager, and has an MBA from Wharton at the University of Pennsylvania.

Tom Frengos is an author, facilitator, and coach based in Japan. He holds a Masters of Applied Science (Psychology of Coaching), Masters in Education and Honours Bachelor of Psychology. He has delivered workshops on unconscious bias training, cross-cultural management and conflict resolution in Canada, Australia and now Japan. He is currently researching and writing about Wabi Sabi, particularly how it can develop empathy, resilience, and well-being in the workplace.

Toshiki Onozuka's work experience ranges from a 27 year career in diverse accounting and finance roles in ExxonMobil (1977 to 2004) to working as a controller for Walt Disney Japan (2005 to 2012), including a three year supervisory responsibility for the accounting function in Walt Disney Korea. In addition to management-related tasks, he has accumulated a wealth of experience in a diversity of accounting and finance-related jobs while working for Controller's, Treasurer's, Strategic Planning and the SAP Project team. Toshiki has been teaching accounting courses at Temple University Japan Campus since the year 2000. Between 2013 and 2014, he was invited as visiting professor to give lectures on International Financial Reporting Standards and other accounting courses at Tashkent Financial Institute in Uzbekistan, where he is also currently honorary professor. He holds a MBA from Foster School of Business at the University of Washington, and a CPA from the Washington State Board of Accountancy.

Yoko Haruhara is an art columnist who has extensively written about Asian art for the Japan Times since 1997, focusing on exhibitions of Japanese, Korean and Chinese art and artifacts. Her publications include Artists in The Residence, a special publication of the United States Department of State for the American Embassy in Tokyo.

Yoshiharu is president of HPO Creation Inc., a management consulting company specializing in leadership and organizational development. He focuses his current practice in the areas of organizational change, leadership development, executive coaching, and marketing and sales development.

Earlier in his career, Yoshiharu spent 12 years in marketing and 12 years in human recourses and organizational development working first as Associate Marketing Manager for Richard Vicks, Japan, moved on to Marketing Manager at P&G along with acquisition, and later moved to HR/OD performing various management positions, including corporate training manager, Taiwan HR manager, Regional OD and talent development director. Yoshiharu holds a BA in Inter-cultural communication from Kita-Kyushu University, an MBA from Northwest Missouri State University and an Ed D in Organization Change at Pepperdine University.