Profile

President，Konishi Decorative Arts and Crafts Co．，Ltd．

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Mr．David Atkinson was born in the UK in 1965．After graduating from the University of Oxford（with an M．A．in Japanese Studies）and working for some major consulting and securities firms，he moved to Goldman Sachs Japan in 1992．He was the first person to report that major banks in Japan suffered from huge non-performing loans and became a trailblazer in transforming and restructuring Japan’s banks at that time．At Goldman Sachs，he was promoted to Managing Director and then Partner，yet he resigned from the company in 2007．He joined Konishi Decorative Arts and Crafts-a restoration company with over 300 years of history of repairing（government designated）national treasures and important cultural properties-as Executive Director in 2009．He became Chairman and President of the company in 2011，and has been the company’s President since 2014． He entered the Urasenke school of tea ceremony in 1999，and was granted the tea name“Soushin”in 2006．He received the 2016 Management Award from the business magazine Zaikai，the 2017 Japan-British Society Award，the 2017 Furusatozukuri（Hometown Community Creation）Grand Prize for Individuals from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications in 2018，and the 2018 Nihonbunka Kouken（Japan Cultural Contribution）Award from the Japan Fashion Association．The Japanese books he has written include the following：“Shin Kankou Rikkoku Ron（New Tourism Nation Theory）”［publisher：Toyo Keizai Inc．］，which was awarded the Yamamoto Shichihei Prize and the Real Estate Companies Association of Japan Award；“Shin Shotoku Baizou Ron（New Income-Doubling Theory）”［publisher：Toyo Keizai Inc．］；“Nihon Saisei wa Seisansei Koujyou shika Nai !（The Only Way to Restore Japan Is to Improve Productivity！）”［publisher：Asuka Shinsha Inc．］；“Sekaiichi Otozuretai Nihon no Tsukurikata（How to Make Japan the Country that People in the World Want to Visit the Most）”［publisher：Toyo Keizai Inc．］；and“Shin Seisansei Rikkoku Ron（New Highly Productive Nation Theory）”［publisher：Toyo Keizai Inc．］．While continuously providing suggestions to the Japanese government，he also makes every effort to promote tourism in regions across the country．For example，since 2015，he has been a member of the Study Group for External Economic Policies，a Visit Kyoto Ambassador，and a member of the Meeting of the Council for a Tourism Vision to Support the Future of Japan．Since 2016，he has been serving as a member of the Experts Meeting Considering Tourism Promotion in Tokyo，a member of the Administrative Reform Council’s Expenditure Reform Working Group，an Advisor to the State Guest Houses（the State Guest House Akasaka Palace and the Kyoto State Guest House），and a Special Advisor to Nijo Castle．

Advisor，Hyogo Earthquake Memorial 21st Century Research Institute

Mr．Shigeyuki Abe was born in Hyogo Prefecture in 1948．He received B．A．from Osaka University in 1970 and the East West Center scholarship enabled him to continue to study at the University of Hawaii．After obtaining Ph．D．in 1977 he joined the United Nations ESCAP as an Economic Affairs Officer．He returned Japan to follow an academic career．He taught at Kyoto Sangyo University，Kobe University，Kyoto University，and Doshisha University．He served as the director of Contemporary Asia Research Center as well．He is currently an adviser of the 21st Century Research Institute．Development Economics is his specialization；his current research includes regional integration，foreign direct investment，Chinese economy，and Asian social security issues．His main publications are Japan-Why It Works，Why It Doesn’t（1997），The Trade Investment Nexus（2000），and Emerging Developments in East Asia FTA/EPAs（2007）．

Director General，Fukuoka Directive Council

After entering the Ministry of Economy，Trade and Industry in Japan，Mr．Shuhei Ishimaru joined the Minister’s Secretariat Policy Evaluation and Public Relations Division，the Small and Medium Enterprise Agency Director-General’s Secretariat Office of Director，and then PricewaterhouseCoopers（PwC）．Following his stints at those organizations，he moved to the Fukuoka Directive Council（FDC），and there，since April 2005，he has been serving in his current position of Director General．He also works as a Visiting Associate Professor at Kyushu University，and his other posts include Chairman of the Avispa Fukuoka（a soccer team）Advisory Board，Executive Board Member of the Future Center Alliance Japan （FCAJ），Executive Director of the Training Course for Regional Policy Designers at Kyushu University，and Advisory Fellow at the Institute for Future Asian Football（IFAF）．He has also been appointed to some positions at public offices，such as Administrative Advisor to Iizuka City in Fukuoka Prefecture

Mayor of Otsu City

Born in 1975
Grew up in Otsu City / Occupation：Lawyer，New York State Lawyer
Jan．2012　Took Office as Mayor of Otsu City，the youngest female mayor ever elected in Japan
Jan．2016　Re-elected as Mayor
Mar．2001　Completed the Master’s Course at the Graduate School of Law，Hokkaido University
Oct．2002　Joined Nishimura & Asahi（law firm）
Jun．2009　Graduated from Harvard Law School in the U．S．
Sep．2009　Joined Debevoise & Plimpton LLP（law firm in New York）
Sep．2010　Became Guest Researcher at the Columbia Business School，Columbia University，New York
Jan．2011　Attended a training program at the United Nations Office of Legal Affairs（New York）
Mar．2015　Named Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum
Mar．2016　Named Champion Mayor by the OECD and the Ford Foundation
Jan．2018　Attended the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos

Distinguished Professor，Faculty of Economics，Doshisha University

Education

Dr．Economics from the Graduate School of Economics at Kyoto University
BS Economics from Kyoto University
Academic Employment
2014-present Distinguished Professor of Urban & Cultural Economics，Faculty of Economics，Doshisha University
2003-2014 Professor of Graduate School for Creative Cities at Osaka City University in Japan
2000-2003 Professor of Ritsumeikan University
1992-2000 Professor of Kanazawa University
Selected Publications
Articles
１ “Creative Cities of the 21st Century：Their Diversity and Network”The Doshisha University Economic Review，Vol．67，No．4，2016
２ “Cultural Cluster and Cityscape in Kanaza wa and Yokohama”Quarterly Journal of Economic Studies Vol．36，No．1-2，2013
３ “Urban Regeneration through cultural creativity and social inclusion：Rethinking creative city theory through Japanese Case Studies”Cities，Vol．27 Supplement 1，2010
４“Developing Creative Cities through Networking”Policy Science Vol．15 No．3，2008
５ “Search for the Osaka Model of Creative City”Research Journal for Creative Cities Vol．1，No．1，2006
６ “Creativity and Cities?The Role of Culture in Urban Regeneration”Quarterly Journal of Economic Studies Vol．27，No．3，2004
Books
１．Challenge for the Creative City，Iwanami Publisher，Tokyo，（in Japanese）2012
２．The Prospects to the Creative City，Gakugei Publisher，Kyoto（in Japanese）2007
３．Challenge for the Creative City，Iwanami Publisher，Tokyo（translated into Korean in 2004）2001
４． Economics of the Creative City，Keiso Publisher，Tokyo（in Japanese）1997 Awards and Honors 2003 Prize of Japanese society of Urbanology