Random Talks

Corporations and governments regularly ask Chandran Nair how to do business the right way in Asia. Chandran—who built Asia’s top environmental consult

You can think of Toshi Nakamura’s NGO, Kopernik, as an online marketplace offering low tech with a higher purpose. Since 2009, Kopernik—a member of th

Nana Watanabe has a wide-angle lens on life. As a photographer, she has shot for iconic brands like Shiseido, Sony Music and Paris Vogue, and also exh

Working to bring a “revolution” to people and companies in this era where change is so fiercely required. Sasaki has been an integral part in the real

Hans Reitz shares a vision with 2006 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Prof. Muhammad Yunus: a planet utterly without poverty. In 2008, the two established t

“Institutional Investor” has ranked Kathy Matsui the top equity strategist in Japan several times, yet her role as co-head of Asia macro r

People love working for Ricco DeBlank. Two years after he took over the Ritz-Carlton Osaka in 2003, for example, an industry survey ranked it as Japan

Are we living in the era of the bold eccentric, the realm of the unfettered visionary? Masaki Takeuchi thinks so, and he should know: he’s the man in

Raised in Africa and schooled in the UK and the U.S., Anthony Willoughby was 22 when he bought a one-way ticket on the Trans-Siberian Express to Japan

Jesper Koll calls himself a professional Japan optimist, but that doesn’t prevent him from speaking constructive truths to power. An advisor to a broa

Here’s Dave McCaughan in 1986, interviewing at ad giant McCann. Interviewer: So, Mr. McCaughan, I see you’ve been a children’s storyteller . . . a yog

An early advocate of mobile video and established expert in the field of digital media, Sandeep Casi worked for large corporations for the best part o

Kumi Fujisawa is convinced that we can transform the world when we think, vocalize and act at the grassroots level. Getting people to realize the wort

Few Westerners have delved deeper into the Japanese consumer’s psyche than Bill Hall. Bill started one of Japan’s first specialist healthcare market r

Morinosuke Kawaguchi loves geeks. What’s more, he fashions solid notions for tweaking technology and other products from his close observations of Jap

Sometimes a single unlikely idea can have massive impact across the world. Sir Harold Evans, the author of They Made America, describes how frustratio