Takaaki ASANO is a Senior Analyst and the General Manager at Sumitomo Corp. Global Research (SCGR). He monitors political and economic developments in North and Latin America, and also follows global geo-economic trends.

Prior to joining the SCGR in 2017, he was a research fellow at Tokyo Foundation, where he followed Japanese economic diplomacy and Japan-U.S. relations. From 2005 to 2011, he was a policy research manager at the Japan Association of Corporate Executives (JACE, or Keizai Doyukai), an influential business organization in Japan, where he was responsible for JACE’s international programs and edited various policy proposals. Prior to joining JACE, he was the senior research analyst at the Representative Office of the Development Bank of Japan in Washington, DC, where he authored policy reports on a wide range of issues, from politics to financial and economic policy.

Earned M.A. in political science at New York University, and received B.A. in sociology at the University of Tokyo.

●"Economic Diplomacy," with Maaike Okano-Heijmans, in Handbook of Japanese Foreign Policy (Routledge, 2018)

●Turning TPP to Japan's Advantage, co-authored with Yutaka Harada in Japanese (PHP, 2013)

Toshiyuki Matsuyama is a Waseda University graduate in political science and economics. After university he worked as news director at Fuji Television and later as a political correspondent, covering prime ministers Tomiichi Murayama and Ryutaro Hashimoto, and chief cabinet secretary Seiroku Kajiyama. In 1997 he served as correspondent for the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, and in 1999-2000 he was program director for different evening news outlets.

He covered global crises such as the 9.11 terrorist attacks, the Iraq War and the North Korean nuclear crisis between 2001-2006. Mr Matsuyama conducted exclusive interviews with former US President George W. Bush and then Secretary of State Colin Powell. From 2008 onward he doubled down in his coverage of national affairs in Japan, reporting extensively on the LDP and the administrations of Aso, Hatoyama, Kan, Noda and Abe. He continues to be a highly respected news personality and currently serves as a board member of the network television.

In October 2016, Watanabe joined the Sasakawa Peace Foundation after serving as a senior fellow and a director of foreign and security policy research at the Tokyo Foundation from 2009 to 2016. He served as a senior fellow at the Mitsui Global Strategic Studies Institute in Tokyo from 2005 to 2009. In 1995, Watanabe joined the Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, D.C. He served as a visiting research scholar, research associate, fellow, and senior fellow until 2005. He is currently an adjunct fellow of CSIS.

Watanabe received his D.D.S. from Tohoku University in Japan and his M.A. in political science from the New School for Social Research in New York.

Vivian Tokai is the North Asia Director of the Economist Intelligence Corporate Network based in Tokyo and covering Japan and South Korea. She is responsible for programme development and client engagement. She works closely with c-level executives on key economic and political issues and industry-specific analysis to support their businesses in the region.

Vivian is a government affairs and public policy professional with 25 years of experience covering a wide variety of sectors, including energy, environment, aviation, transportation, defense, IT and digital economy. She has extensive senior leadership experience with a wide range of blue-chip multinational businesses in Japan. Prior to joining the Economist Group, she led Japan government relations activities at UPS, GE, Facebook, eBay and Honeywell. She was responsible for developing and executing strategic lobbying approaches, and ensuring strong relationships with regulators and government leaders.

Vivian has been active in a number of business organisations. She is a member of the Keizai Doyukai, Japan Association of Corporate Executives, and has held various board roles with the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan. She has also been a visiting professor and lecturer at a number of Japanese universities including Chuo University and Showa Women’s University.

Her personal commitment is female empowerment. She served as Chief Diversity Officer at Citigroup in Japan and was selected as Women’s Leadership member at GE.

Vivian also possesses extensive experience in the media. She anchored a sports news segment of a daily evening news program at NHK, the Japan Broadcasting Corporation. She earned a Master of Science degree in Broadcast Journalism from School of Journalism, College of Communication, Boston University. She can speak Japanese and English, and introductory Chinese, Korean and French.