This year, we will kick off Shinnenkai with a traditional New Year’s toasting and greetings led by Hiroshi Kawamura, the Consul General of Japan in San Francisco.
Let’s welcome the first Asian female astronaut, Dr. Chiaki Mukai, as our honored guest to receive the Keizai Silicon Valley Distinguished Achievement Award. Known for her space missions in 1994 and 1998 as a medical doctor and physiologist, Dr. Mukai made a remarkable contribution to life sciences and space medicine. She currently serves as the Specially Appointed Vice President at Tokyo University of Science. Professor Richard Dasher, from Stanford University, will host the award interview for Dr. Mukai. There will be a Q&A where event participants can ask her questions.
Following the award interview, the Dialogue session features the topic “What’s Happening with Digital Entertainment in Japan?” with Mr. Ray Hatoyama, CEO of Hatoyama-Soken and one of the Business Insider’s most successful Harvard MBA graduates of all time. Enjoy this intimate conversation led by Professor Dasher. Before establishing his research and consulting firm, Mr. Hatoyama served as the Managing Director at Sanrio Co., Ltd, driving the astounding Hello Kitty brand phenomenon behind the scenes. Sanrio’s market cap grew from $500 million to $6.5 billion in five years with his contribution. We’ll encourage you to bring questions.
We wish you Happy New Year and hope to see you all at Shinnenkai!
Dr. Chiaki Mukai graduated from Keio University’s School of Medicine (MD) in 1977 and received her Medical Doctor's license in the same year. As a medical staff member of the Department of Surgery, Keio University School of Medicine, she engaged in medical examinations at the hospital. In 1988, Dr. Mukai received her Doctorate in Physiology from Keio University.
In 1985, Dr. Mukai was selected to be an astronaut by the National Space Development Agency of Japan (currently Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, JAXA) as a Payload Specialist. She flew in space in 1994 and 1998 as the first female astronaut from Asia, conducting experiments in life sciences and space medicine under microgravity.
From 2005 to 2007, Dr. Mukai focused on education as a professor at the International Space University, contributing to space medicine research and health management on the International Space Station. From 2007 to 2015, she dedicated to promoting space medicine research as Director of the JAXA Space Biomedical Research Office and Director of the JAXA Center for Applied Space Medicine and Human Research. Dr. Mukai became Vice President of the Tokyo University of Science in April 2015. Since April 2016, she has been the Specially Appointed Vice President of the same university.
Dr. Mukai has been chosen for “Distinguished Achievement Award” by Keizai Silicon Valley.
Mr. Ray Hatoyama is a highly experienced IT and Entertainment executive specialized in corporate strategy for globalization, corporate governance, and innovation. He was the Managing Director of Sanrio Co., Ltd (known for the Hello Kitty brand) and executed Sanrio’s global expansion strategy. Not only did he made Hello Kitty a global iconic brand but Mr. Hatoyama also succeeded in bringing the franchise to Hollywood. Its market cap rose from $500 million to $6.5 billion in five years after he joined the company in 2008.
Mr. Hatoyama serves as the independent director for various TSE-listed companies such as Z Corp. (Search/EC/SNS conglomerate in Japan), Pigeon Corp. (baby products), and Transcosmos Inc. (call center and BPO). Previously, he served on the Board of Directors of DeNA Co., Ltd (mobile gaming). Mr. Hatoyama is the CEO of Hatoyama-Soken, his own research and consulting arm, and a Venture Partner of Sozo Ventures, a Silicon Valley VC known for its investment in Palantir, Coinbase, Zoom, Fastly, MongoDB, Twitter, Square, and others. He also provides his expertise as a Senior Executive Advisor to various companies from global entertainment and funding to start-ups in Silicon Valley and Japan.
Before Sanrio, Mr. Hatoyama was part of Mitsubishi Corporation’s Content Division, managing media-content business operations for Avex Group, Lawson, Inc., and other companies.
Mr. Hatoyama earned his MBA from Harvard Business School and has been chosen as the 31st most successful Harvard Business Graduate of all time in Business Insider (October 2015).
US: Friday, January 28th, 2022
Webinar: 5:00 – 6:30 PM (PST)
Japan: Saturday, January 29th, 2022
Webinar: 10:00 – 11:30 AM (JST)
Free
