Faculty

Faculty members

IMAI AkikoHONGO AkashiYASHIRO NaohiroTAKEGAWA Keiko
ISONO AkihikoAMEZEN ShokoBABA YasushiMINAI Takahisa
KONISHI MasakoASADA YukoMIYAWAKI HiroyukiYAZAWA Olya
NAGAYA MakikoMIURA Sayako

IMAI Akiko
SWU Global Business Department Dean

Main courses:
Introduction of International Affairs, Practical Leadership, Sustainability and Business (English), Global Governance

Research interests:
Political science, Global issues

Education:
MPA, Harvard Kennedy School of Government

Career:
Board member, Japan Echo Inc.; Board member, Tokyo Foundation; Editor of international publications, Japan Foundation.

Message:

I have been involved in various tasks related to the “international community and Japan” for about 30 years as an editor of Japan Echo, an English-language opinion magazine and the Japan Foundation, and as a director of a policy think tank Tokyo Foundation. Meanwhile, as the global community went through many occurrences including the end of the Cold War, the spread of the Internet, the September 11 terrorist attacks, and the large-scale disasters like the Great Tohoku Earthquake, the role of the nations and citizens has changed drastically. In a world full of diversity and change, I am researching what responsibilities and roles corporations, governments, and citizens are anticipated to have to avoid unexpected negative impacts, from the perspective of adaptive leadership, corporate social responsibility, and sustainability.0
          At my seminar, students obtain skills of international public relations by creating an English website Palette to introduce socio-economic issues of Japan. I hope the students of SWU Business Design Department to hone their knowledge and skills and build a better society with their own hands, rather than leaving this important task to somebody else.

HONGO Akashi
Department Chair

Main courses:
Introduction of Finance, Introduction of Accounting

Research interests:
Corporate Finance, Corporate Valuation

Final Degree:
Ph.D. International Christian University, M.B.A. International University of Japan, B.A. Keio University

Career:
Nippon Steel Corporation, Japan Representative for Stern Stewart, Corporate Officer at  Recruit Management Solutions Co., Associate Professor and Distinguished Scholar at Temple University

Message

I started my business career at a traditional Japanese company, and I led the consulting practice in Japan and served as country representative for a global consulting firm. Then, I had been in charge of planning, accounting, human resource, legal, compliance, general affairs, international business development and supply chain management as a corporate officer at another Japanese company. Simultaneously, I earned a Ph.D. and started teaching at Temple University, Japan Campus. I am looking forward to digging into what I learnt from my experience in Japanese and non-Japanese companies, as an employee and a board member, in Japanese and American universities, as a practitioner and a researcher or an instructor, more details with you.

YASHIRO Naohiro
Specially Appointed Professor

Main courses:
Economic Policy, Labor and Social Security

Research interests:
Labor economics, Social security, Japanese economy

Education:
Ph.D. in Economics, University of Maryland Graduate School of Economics

Career:
Senior researcher/president, Japan Center for Economic Research

Message

I had worked as an economist for 20 years at the Economic Planning Agency of the Japanese government and the OECD in Paris before moving to academia and teaching at Sophia University and International Christian University. My main research interests are in the analysis of the declining birthrate and aging population, labor market and social security reforms, using Japanese economics and economics methods. As a member of the Council Economic and Fiscal Policy and Council for the Regulatory Reform Council, the advisory bodies to the Prime Minister, I have been involved in system reforms for many years. Taking advantage of these experiences, the students in my seminar are tackling the problems of nursing-care, childcare businesses, and regional revitalization. I welcome students who want to learn how to solve social issues through economics theory and methods.

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TAKEGAWA Keiko
Specially Appointed Professor

Main courses:
Non-profit Organization Management, Women’s Policy in Japan

Research interest: 
Gender issues

Education: 
MBA, Duke University; BA, College of Arts and Sciences, University of Tokyo

Career: 
Outside member of the Board, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Co.; Outside auditor, Mitsui Mining & Smelting Co.

Message

As the director of the Gender Equality Bureau of the Cabinet Office, I was in charge of the Women’s Empowerment Promotion Act, which requires the formulation of positive action plans to companies, the introduction of a public procurement system to promote women’s empowerment, and the policies to prevent domestic violence. Although numbers of female workers have increased considerably, the gap between men and women is still immense and there still appears to be many issues surrounding women, including biased burden of housework responsibilities. In a rapidly changing world, by fully making use of my career and experience, I would like to address how to overcome these social issues with the students who are the future of Japan and the world.

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ISONO Akihiko
Professor

Main courses:
Service Economy and Career Development

Research interests:
Journalism, Politics, Economic Policy, Gender issues, Management

Education:
BA in Politics, School of Political Science and Economics, Waseda University

Career:
Director-General of Digital Media Bureau; Director of Newspaper Research Department, Mainichi Newspapers Co.

Message

For 33 years I had worked as a reporter of the nationwide daily Mainichi Shimbun and covered politics, economy, crime investigation, as well as supervised the digital media department before moving to Showa Women’s University in April 2011. I have been interested in global and domestic economic trends, movements of industries and companies in and outside Japan, career development for youth, and changes in the journalistic media. I am in charge of career and job hunting support for college students at the university. I am always curious about new things, and I think I am better at using SNS than the average people in my generation. Although I do not have an accredited seminar, I often conduct the field surveys with researchers and students at the Institute of Contemporary Business and disclose the finding of these surveys at the university’s Cosmos Festival.

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AMEZEN Shoko
Professor

Main courses:
Hospitality ManagementⅠ&Ⅱ, Management Philosophy and Corporate Ethics

Research Interests:
Hospitality management, Service management

Education:
MS in international tourism, Toyo University Graduate School of International Area Studies

Career:
Director of Advisor Group; Director of In-flight Quality Planning Department, Japan Airlines Co.

Message

Taking advantage of 40 years of experience in airline business, I focus on the hospitality and empathy management study and jointly work for the improvement of tourism and service management with private companies and local governments/communities. The insight, empathy, imagination, co-creation, responsiveness, and crisis management capabilities that I have learned from the encounters of nearly one million customers and from the colleagues who I have worked in a team with — are the essence of my hospitality management approach. Hospitality exactly mirrors us as people, so it can be said that improving hospitality is, first of all, improving human power.
          This is what should become of the utmost importance for the new future society — understanding the essence of happiness as a person, the essence of management as a company, and exploring together how we can contribute to the diverse society.

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BABA Yasushi
Professor

Main courses:
Innovation Management, Modern Enterprise Theory

Research interests:
Management of Technology, Innovation Management

Education:
Master in Management of Technology (Professional), Graduate School of Engineering Management, Shibaura Institute of Technology; B.E, Department of Computer Science, Faculty of Engineering, Kyoto University

Career:
Chief Investigator of Corporate Strategy Division, New Business Development Division, and IT Division, Asahi Shimbun Co.

Message

I studied computer science at college in 1980s, when Japan was rapidly catching up with American information-technology industry. After finishing graduate school, I became an IT engineer and engaged in designing many corporate mainframe systems. However, the world of IT was completely overwhelmed by America in 1990s and I realized their strength of IT industry was lied in the innovation study. Then I decided to study innovation management at a graduate school and applied the knowledge I’ve learned to the management strategy and business creation. Innovation is a driving force for growth for individuals, as well as for businesses. Let’s study innovation and grow together. I hope you, the students, would “be the light to the world” of innovation in Japan.

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MINAI Takahisa
Professor

Main courses:
Introduction to Marketing, Marketing Management,

Research interests:
Marketing strategy, New market development, Macro-marketing

Education:
Completed coursework of doctoral program (ABD) at the Graduate School of Asia-Pacific Studies, Waseda University; M.A., Keio University Graduate School of Media and Governance; B.A., Faculty of Policy Management, Keio University

Career:
Multimedia Business Department, Multimedia Headquarters, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation Co.

Message

Taking advantage of my experience of planning and marketing, I research business development of various new markets, and create unique sales methods from the perspective of marketing strategy. Marketing is a comprehensive and practical discipline that considers how to design, express, and realize the value of goods and services for customers. The job of a marketer (a person who is a marketing professional) has a significant impact on people’ choices and behaviors. Marketers need to think of different customers, move their viewpoints to “suppleness,” and have “a sense of ownership” that can turn other people’s issues into their own issues. Let’s apply the learning of marketing to your life!

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KONISHI Masako
Specially-Appointed Professor

Main courses:
Business Negotiation, Development and Environment

Research interests:
Environment and energy, public policy, Negotiation, Meteorology

Education:
Ph.D. in Public Policy, Hosei University; MPA from Harvard Kennedy School of Government

Career:
WWF Japan, Expert Director (Conservation and Energy)

Message

I am one of the practitioner faculty members, engaging in international negotiations at the United Nations climate change conferences. Nowadays, climate and SDGs (UN Sustainable Development Goals) are integrated more and more into the global economy. With the current experience in the environment and energy business world, not only would I provide the latest intelligence insights to students, but also the practical negotiation skills that I have nurtured through my experience of twenty years as a broadcaster. My specialty is public policy from such interdisciplinary perspectives as economics, politics, and international relations, focusing on the environment. I’m especially interested in stimulating international cooperation among various institutions, including governments, industries, and NGOs, hoping to create a change in this world. Those of you who are going to thrive into the future, I will give you strength, courage and confidence!

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ASADA Yuko
Associate Professor

Main courses:
Introduction to Business English, Business English

Research interests:
Linguistics, Japanese, English, the Japanese Sign Language

Education:
PhD. in Linguistics, Sophia University; MA in the Humanities, University of Chicago

Career:
Brand Manager, Designer Brands, Luxury Product Division, Nihon L’Oréal

Message

After graduating from Sophia University, I wanted to work abroad, so I moved to Paris and studied at H.E.C. in Paris, majoring in marketing, and obtaining an MS in business. For the next 15 years, I was mainly involved in marketing and brand management in the cosmetics and fashion industry in Paris, Chicago and Japan. While working in a multilingual environment, I became interested in linguistic research, in particular Universal Grammar of human language, and decided to join the world of academics. In 2011, I received the Ph.D. in linguistics. My field of specialization is theoretical linguistics, focusing on the morphology and syntax of English, French, Japanese, and the Japanese Sign Language.

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MIYAWAKI Hiroyuki
Associate Professor

Main courses:
Introduction to ICT Business, Fundamentals of Venture Business

Research interests:
ICT Business, ICT Literacy, Quantitative analysis, Venture/Small and Medium Business

Education:
Completed coursework of doctoral program (ABD) at Graduate School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo, Graduate School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo; M.Eng.

Career:
The Japan Research Institute, Limited, Institute for International Socio-Economic Studies

Message

As a consultant at a think tank, I have worked on more than 100 projects with companies and government offices. Making use of my experience on projects with enterprises in various industries, I am committed to engaging in practical education and research at SWU. My lecture topics will include business models utilizing ICT and methods of leveraging ICT. Learn about ICT in business as well as ICT as a tool.

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YAZAWA Olya
Associate Professor

Main courses:
Business English, Reading and Discussion

Research interests:
Linguistics, English, Foreign language education

Education:
Ph.D. in Philology, Moscow State University; MS in TESOL, Anaheim University; BA in Linguistics, Moscow State University; BA in Economics, Colorado University

Career:
Lecturer, Teikyo University, English and Russian language

Message

From the view of a young woman’s professional value formation, one of the most significant means for the expansion of her educational and social opportunities in modern Japan is the study of English. In my classroom, I introduce students to a professionally meaningful communication, activating awareness and internalization of the values of future business activities. My lessons are accompanied by emotional support of the students’ basic psychological needs, enriching the value-motivational sphere of their personality and developing a positive attitude to the future career as business women in Japan.

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NAGAYA Makiko
Specialized Teacher

Main courses:
Introduction to Economics, Macro-Economics, Environmental and Resource Economics, Mathematics for Business, Micro-Economics

Research interest:
Economics

Education:
Ph.D. in Economics, Kyoto University Graduate School of Economics

Career:
Research Fellow, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science

Message

I study the relationship between the energy and environmental issues and the economy through economic theory. In this department I mainly teach subjects related to basic economic theory.
          The true purpose of economics is how to efficiently and fairly distribute the rare goods to everyone. The underlying reason to study it is the desire to focus on society and build a better economic society. My lectures aim to provide knowledge that serves as a bridge between economic theory and the real world that would allow students to cultivate the basic skills to become a full-fledged member of the society. I hope students eventually acquire logical reasoning skills by learning economic thinking – the basis of business.

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MIURA Sayako
Specialized Teacher

Main courses:
Strategic Management, Organizational Theory

Research interests:
Strategic management, Organizational theory

Education:
Ph. D., Graduate School of Commerce and Management, Hitotsubashi University; BA, School of Commerce, Waseda University

Career:
Full-time Lecturer, Shujitsu University; Full-time Lecturer, Teikyo University

Message

I teach strategic theory and organizational theory, which are the main subjects of business administration. Learning theory is mastering abstract words and ideas. By knowing words and ways of thinking, you will be in a position to respond to a diverse and changing society in your own way. Please acquire this power in the course of your college life. This power is the foundation that will help you live your own life. I hope you will play an active role in society. I will support your growth by mobilizing my expertise in business administration, as well as my experience of studying abroad at an American university and of working in a private company. I would like you to learn the ways of deliberating, and use them to tackle various issues collaboratively. Let’s think about it and discuss a lot.

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