Random Talks

Ken Okuyama has spent a lifetime fashioning exotic yet practical things of surpassing beauty. The prizewinning car designer has shaped models for Gene

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

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

Could you live in a world without music? Former DJ and record label owner Jakob Lusensky is dedicated to probing our thoughts on that bleak scenario.

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

Bill Werlin was born in Colorado mountain territory and grew up working at his family’s ski area, surrounded by the majestic Rockies and untainted ski

Suppleness and steely toughness—two seemingly incompatible attributes—describe a supermaterial many have dreamed of. Now Kazuhide Sekiyama and Spiber

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

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

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

Life is serious enough, so James Curleigh wants us to go outside and play. In fact, he and his Oregon-based company KEEN Footwear encourage everybody

A partner at renowned design firm IDEO and the co-leader of both IDEO’s Bay Area operation and its Asia initiative, Owen Rogers stands squarely at the

Brainstorms are Tom Kelley’s stock-in-trade, and when he says creativity is the secret to economic growth, people listen. After all, Tom helped take g

Tamako Mitarai has always focused on doing work in places where her efforts can make a real difference. While she was a student, she worked with NGOs

Few Westerners have delved deeper into the Japanese consumer’s psyche than Bill Hall. Bill began researching the Japanese market in the early 1970s be

Fujiyo Ishiguro preaches the mechanics of digital marketing to companies who make great products but can’t create the sales systems needed to retail t