Toshiki Abe is a prominent social entrepreneur in Japan, representing Ridilover, the country’s largest platform connecting social issues with companies, organizations and individuals. As the editor-in-chief of Ridilover Journal, he plays a key role in shaping public discourse. Regularly featured on popular Japanese news programmes, including the highly-rated Morning Show, Abe actively engages with production teams, influencing programme content and setting public opinion agendas. His insightful commentary reaches approximately 12 million viewers weekly, contributing to the understanding of complex societal challenges. Recently, the company has been involved in the management of a $86.6 million fund, including the conduct of social impact assessments. Abe is a key player in building an impact economy in Japanese society through this fund. He also operates three other businesses at Ridilover. One is the educational tour business that provides trips to sites of social issues for junior high and high school students. The project provides students with physical learning about social issues through educational tours and has produced behavioural changes in 10,000 people a year (equivalent to 1% of the Japanese population of that generation) who have experienced the tours. There is also a training programme to develop corporate leaders who can learn across boundaries, from within the company to social issues. The third is companion business development support, in which projects are developed in partnership with companies, ministries and local governments to solve social issues.

Rina Akimoto is Founder and CEO of Vivid Garden Inc., a start-up founded in 2016, operating Japan's largest online farm-to-table marketplace, Tabechoku. The company's mission is to recognize the dedication of producers for their products, inspired by the experience of her family's agricultural business closure in her youth. Since its launch in 2017, Tabechoku has grown into a trusted platform with over 9,000 socially driven producers and over 1 million users across the country. The service has empowered producers in farm, fishery and other sectors to set fair prices and deliver rich stories, by directly connecting with users. Such connections foster customer loyalty and reduce food waste by adding value to non-market standard yet unique crops and products. Akimoto graduated from Keio University.

Serial Entrepreneur. MSc, in Artificial Intelligence, from Tokyo University. Engaged in research on Recommendation Engine, Complex Network, Clustering. Won the Innovative Software Creation Program (Super Creator Award) under Information-technology Promotion Agency Japan (IPA) in 2005 and 2006. Started her first business to create the middleware which enables to develop iOS / Android / Feature Phone simultaneously, and sold the company to mixi.inc. Founded Cinnamon in Singapore in 2012. She has received various awards, including St. Gallen Symposium Leaders of Tomorrow, Forbes Japan "Entrepreneur Ranking 2020" BEST10, Woman of the Year 2019 Innovative Entrepreneur Award, and Veuve Clicquot Business Woman Award 2019 New Generation Award. She has also been a keynote speaker at AWS Summit 2019, Milken Institute Japan Symposium, 45th Japan-ASEAN Management Conference, Bloomberg The Year Ahead Summit 2019, and etc. She was appointed to a member of the IT Strategy Office, Cabinet Secretariat and a special member of the Tax Commission, Cabinet Office in 2020. She has been an expert member of the Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy, Cabinet Office; a member of the New Economic and Industrial Policy Subcommittee, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry; and an expert member of the Council for Realizing New Capitalism, Cabinet Secretariat in 2021. She is also a member of the Advisory Board of the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Tokyo. She is the mother of three children.

Masao Kayama has extensive experience in various roles and industries. As Head of Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) in the Next-Generation Energy Business Group at Mitsubishi Corporation, he successfully launched the CDR business from scratch and has been leading investments and business developments in CDR technologies. In addition, he is Co-Founder of the NextGen CDR Facility, a groundbreaking global advance market commitment facility aiming to purchase over 1 million CDRs by 2025. Kayama’s expertise extends to carbon management strategy as Deputy General Manager of the Carbon Management Team at Mitsubishi Corporation. He actively contributes to national initiatives, serving as a member of the Study Group on Preparation of Carbon Credits for Carbon Neutrality under the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and also international initiative as a Steering Committee Member of the CCS+ Initiative. Prior to these roles, he held positions in business development and M&A in the mining division of Mitsubishi Development Pty Ltd and gained valuable on-site training as a mining engineer at Rio Tinto. His early experience includes working as a sales representative for battery raw materials at Mitsubishi Corporation.

Akiko Naka is Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Wantedly, a social networking service for professionals. Following its official launch in February 2012, Wantedly grew to 2.5 million monthly active users and 30,000 corporations. Wantedly has become the leading professional social networking service in Japan. Naka was the youngest female founder to take a company public in Japan.

Yusuke Narita is an economist, (social) entrepreneur, and public speaker/writer working across multiple countries and fields. He is an Assistant Professor at Yale University in the US and the founder of the startup Hanjuku-kaso Inc. in Japan. As a researcher, he develops methods that use algorithm, data, and evidence to improve social decision making. He deploys his research output to solve real-world business and policy problems, especially education and health policy issues. He is also active on the media and one of the most widely known academics in Japan. At the intersection of academia, industry, media, and policy, his work won several prizes, including The Prime Minister Prize, the Japanese government’s Open Innovation Award, MIT Technology Review’s Innovators under 35 Japan, KDDI Contribution Award, among others. He obtained a Ph.D. from MIT and a bachelor from the University of Tokyo (with the best undergraduate thesis award given to an outstanding thesis once every few years). He was previously a Visiting Assistant Professor at Stanford University, Visiting Associate Professor at Hitotsubashi University, and currently hold research affiliate positions at MIT, University of Chicago, University of Tokyo, among others.

Yoichi Ochiai is an award-winning digital media artist, a recognized scholar, entrepreneur and media influencer. He is an Associate Professor at the University of Tsukuba in Japan, specializing in media art, human computer interactions and its application, and Head of the Digital Nature Laboratory. He is also Founder of Pixie Dust Technologies, a technology company developing digital fabrication through artificial intelligence-based solutions. Ochiai has received numerous awards for his work, including the 2015 World Technology Award, 2016 Prix Ars Electronica, European Union STARTS Prize, Laval Virtual Award and many others. He is the author of "The Century of Enchantment (Planets)" and "Survival Strategy of Super AI Era”. He has also given many lectures in Japan and abroad and at symposiums such as TEDxTokyo and at SEMICON Japan. Ochiai received his PhD in Applied Computer Science from the University of Tokyo.

Head of Research Development Center for Digital Nature, University of Tsukuba
Associate Professor, University of Tsukuba
Visiting Professor, Osaka University of Arts
Visiting Professor, Kyoto City University of Arts
Visiting Professor, Kanazawa College of Art
Visiting Professor, Digital Hollywood University
Principal Investigator of JST CREST xDiversity
Osaka, Kansai, Japan Expo2025 Site Theme Producer
Board Member of VR Consortium
Board Member of Mitoh Foundation
Board Member of xDiversity
General, Intellectual Property Strategy, Cabinet Office, Expert Committee Member
Digital Reform-Related Legislation Working Group, Committee Member
Cabinet Office "Moonshot" Research and Development Program Visionary Conference Member and Moonshot Ambassador
Cabinet Secretariat's Conference on Building a Social Security System for All Generations, Committee Member
Economic and Industrial Policy New Axis at the Industrial Structure Council, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, Committee Member
World Economic Forum Young Global Leaders 2022 Members
Digital Agency, Digital Day Review Committee Member
Committee Member of the Cultural Affairs Council
Pixie Dust Technologies.Inc CEO

Yurina Takiguchi is a business and economics news anchor with a strong influence in business and the economy. She has built a 10-year career as a news anchor, specializing in innovation, technology and the Japanese start-up ecosystem. Takiguchi has served as an anchor for TV Tokyo’s Morning Satellite and Nikkei CNBC, conducting over 1,000 executive interviews. She has also held roles as an Editor and Communications Director for Forbes JAPAN. Takiguchi has expanded her horizon beyond newscasting. She moderates major Japanese business conferences and serves on the board of directors of SBI Shinsei Bank and TerraSky. On both boards, Takiguchi is the only woman selected as Outside Director. She is the only outside director appointed to bring a mix of gender perspective, academia-business synergy and strong public relations network and messages. Takiguchi is also on the advisory board of the University of Tokyo's Faculty of Engineering. As Founder of Globe Eight, Takiguchi’s platform for content creation and production to help academia and companies in communications with society, she champions diversity and inclusion in acceleration of social innovation, showcasing her commitment to making a positive impact on society. Hers dedication to science and innovation led to the publication of 10 Future Predictions by Science Professors of Tokyo University in November 2023.

Committed to enhancing her global influence, she is pursuing a Master’s degree at the University of Tokyo's Graduate School of Public Policy.

Sayaka Tanaka is a pioneering social entrepreneur and movement leader committed to closing the gender gap within Japan’s digital sphere, a nation currently ranking 125th out of 146 in the Global Gender Gap Report. In 2017, she initiated education programmes tailored for girls and gender minority middle and high school students. At the age of 28, Tanaka founded Waffle.org, a groundbreaking organization dedicated to addressing the gender gap in technology and progamming education. Waffle.org stands out as the sole entity providing hands-on programming education to female students while also advocating for governmental action to rectify the structural roots of gender disparity in Japan. Tanaka has emerged as a prominent figure in the discourse surrounding gender equality, influencing corporate, governmental and media spheres alike. Her expertise has been acknowledged by prestigious institutions, including appointments to advisory positions within the Cabinet Office, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. Additionally, she has contributed her insights to women's empowerment boards at Indeed and L’Oréal Japan. In 2024, Tanaka was the youngest delegate of the W20 JAPAN, the official engagement group responsible for proposing policy recommendations related to women for the G20. Her remarkable contributions have earned her numerous accolades, including the prestigious Japan SDGs Award, personally bestowed by the Prime Minister, as well as recognition in Forbes JAPAN 30 Under 30 in 2020. Tanaka was honoured with the Business with Attitude award by FIGARO.jp for her exceptional dedication and innovative approach. Waffle.org's impact extends beyond educational initiatives, with the publication of Me x IT = The Strongest Theory: A Guide for Girls & Gender Minorities to Work in IT in 2023, further solidifying Tanaka’s legacy as a catalyst for change in Japan’s technology landscape.

Dr. Katsuya Uenoyama is a entrepreneur in the machine learning and artificial intelligence area.

He founded PKSHA Technology in 2012 and the company became a listed company in 2018 as the biggest AI company in Japan.

He is exploring how to shape AI-driven software to empower and diverse human and society.

Prior to founding PKSHA, he received got his PhD in Machine Learning from Tokyo University. And ex-BCG.

Yuito Yamada is a Partner at McKinsey & Company, serving as Asia’s co-leader and Japan’s leader for McKinsey Sustainability, the firm’s global client service platform to help all industry sectors achieve net zero emissions by 2050. In this role, his influence and activities span topics as broad as sustainability transformation, portfolio decarbonization, and green business globalization, particularly in support of the Global Energy & Materials practice (covering players in the power, chemicals, materials, and agriculture sectors), the Financial & Banking practice (serving the world’s largest financial institutions on sustainability topics) and the Public Sector practice. After an adolescence that spanned Singapore, New York, and London, Yuito returned to Japan to pursue a bachelor’s degree in economics from Keio University. He has also a Masters degree from the University of Cambridge in Sustainability Leadership from CISL (Cambridge Institute of Sustainability Leadership).

Yoshiki Yasui is President & CEO of Yasui & Company, an independent financial service firm focused on financial advisory, including mergers and acquisitions, corporate reorganizations, financial restructuring as well as merchant banking focusing on early stage companies with multiple portfolio companies in the U.S. and Japan. Currently also serving as the mentor and innovation fellow for Harvard Innovation Labs.

Born in Toronto in 1985, Yoshiki spent his childhood in Toronto and New York until moving to Japan at the age of 10. Yoshiki studied at the University of Sydney and Waseda University. Upon graduation, Yoshiki began his work in the Investment Banking Division for Lehman Brothers. Later he worked at a Silicon Valley based venture capital firm, DCM where he was responsible for investments in the US, Japan and China. Yoshiki founded a mobile payment company Origami in 2012, which was later acquired by a Japanese listed company Mercari. Yoshiki has been a board member of the Payments Japan Association, as well as the New Industrial Structure Council of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan. He was also selected as Young Global Leaders Class of 2020 by the World Economic Forum. Awarded a certificate of completion for the Global Leadership and Public Policy for the 21st Century Program, John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, Executive Education.