Takashi Kawamoto - Founder/Managing Partner
Takashi Kawamoto is a cross-border strategist whose career spans diplomacy, consulting, global institutions, corporate communications, and executive leadership in a listed Japanese company. This uncommon trajectory enables him to advise leaders at moments where strategy, governance, and communication must converge to drive execution.
Takashi began his career at Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, developing expertise in negotiation, diplomacy, and geopolitical analysis, including an overseas posting in Honolulu focused on U.S.–Japan security relations.
He later joined Deloitte Tohmatsu Consulting, advising major companies and policymakers on corporate strategy, growth transformation, and regulatory affairs. His work ranged from national energy and cybersecurity policy to organizational reform, and he was recognized as Best Consultant of the Year among more than 2,000 consultants.
At the World Economic Forum and the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, Takashi worked at the intersection of business, government, and global institutions, strengthening his ability to translate system-level strategy into organizational action.
As a consultant at Brunswick Group in Tokyo and Washington, D.C., he advised C-suite leaders on high-stakes issues such as contested M&A, shareholder activism, cybersecurity crises, litigation, and corporate transformation — guiding executives through moments when reputation and strategy directly shape enterprise value.
Most recently, Takashi served as Head of Global M&A and Corporate Planning at Kansai Paint Co., Ltd., where he led global deal origination and analysis, developed the company’s mid-term management plan, and modernized the corporate communications function.
In 2025, he founded Global Samurai Advisory, LLC, a U.S.-based advisory firm that partners with Japanese corporations, global investors, and multinational companies. Leveraging his rare combination of diplomatic insight, consulting precision, and executive experience, Takashi supports leaders in designing and executing cross-border strategies that drive long-term value.
Keisuke Hioki - Senior Advisor
Keisuke Hioki is widely recognized as one of Japan’s leading thought leaders in corporate transformation (CX) and cross-functional management. Over his career at PwC, IBM, Deloitte, and Boston Consulting Group, He has led numerous transformation initiatives and advisory engagements, earning a reputation as a rare expert capable of integrating strategy, governance, and organizational capabilities into a coherent management architecture.
He previously chaired the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) Study Group on Corporate Transformation for Global Competitiveness, where he played a central role in systematically clarifying Japan’s corporate management challenges and mapping how corporate functions must evolve to sustain growth. Through deep engagement with policymakers and senior executives from major Japanese enterprises, he helped articulate a modern management model tailored to Japan’s next phase of competitiveness.
Today, Keisuke serves as Senior Executive of the Japan CFO, CHRO, and CLO Associations, and advises corporations, media groups, and technology companies across Japan. His work spans corporate function strengthening, portfolio management, leadership and executive team development, and enterprise-level organization redesign – consistently bridging theory with hands-on practice. His book World-Class Management (Diamond, 2020) remains one of Japan’s most influential guides on corporate management reform.
Recognized for his unique ability to define and implement what high-performing, integrated corporate functions should look like, Keisuke is considered a central voice shaping Japan’s next-generation management model.
As Senior Advisor to Global Samurai Advisory, he works closely with Founder and Managing Partner, Takashi Kawamoto – whose background spans government, international institutions, consulting, and corporate leadership – to help Japanese enterprises redesign and rebuild the organizational capabilities required to compete and win in global markets.