Our Team

Yasunori Takeuchi was appointed CEO/representative director of Corporate Action Japan (CAJ) in September 2022. He is the former CEO and representative of Standard Chartered Bank, Japan. After graduating from university, he worked for the Long-Term Credit Bank of Japan and several foreign financial institutions for 38 years, taking a leading role in international financial operations covering Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. As the representative of Standard Chartered Bank in Japan, he proactively advocated for the crucial role that the finance sector can play in enabling the transition to a carbon neutral economy. Yasunori has a Bachelor of Law degree from the University of Tokyo.

Takayoshi Yokoyama is the former CEO of Fuji Fire and Marine Insurance (now AIG General Insurance). After graduating from university, he joined AIU, a subsidiary of the US financial group AIG. After that, he served in president/CEO positions for three subsidiaries of AIG for 25 years and as vice chairman of the General Insurance Association of Japan, in charge of managing non-life insurance in the Japanese market. After his retirement, he started full-scale work on environmental issues, which he had been interested in since he was a student. After working as the Japan branch representative of the international environmental NGO 350.org (three fifty dot org), he became a CAJ director in June 2022. Takayoshi has a Bachelor of Economics degree from the University of Tokyo.

Ai Kawakami has been a registered lawyer with the Daini Tokyo Bar Association since 2008. Specializing in real estate and corporate law, she has a wealth of experience with Japanese and international clients focusing on the area of real estate transaction/management and corporate governance. From 2016 to 2021, Ai worked in Rajah & Tann LCT Lawyers and Mori Hamada & Matsumoto in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, where she advised Japanese companies on setting up and managing local subsidiaries, joint ventures, and human rights due diligence. Ai earned her Juris Doctor degree from the Graduate School of Law at Dokkyo University.

Asahi Yamashita is the former executive officer and deputy general counsel of Aflac Life Insurance Japan. He has been registered as a bengoshi (a lawyer licensed to practice law in Japan) with the Daini Tokyo Bar Association since 1991. Since registering, he has worked exclusively with US law firms, handling a wide range of financial transactions. He became interested in climate change in the wake of the 2018 typhoon damage and has been an advisor in Japan to ClientEarth, a UK law charity, since January 2021. He has served as a director of CAJ since June 2022. Asahi has a Bachelor of Law degree from the University of Tokyo.

Mayumi Ueno has a career that spans two decades as an international civil servant/official working for the United Nations (UN Women, UNDP, IOM) and the Government of Japan (Ministry of Foreign Affairs). Prior to joining CAJ in 2022, Mayumi spent two years with a global strategic communications firm where she advised leading Japanese companies on critical issues involving corporate reputations and stakeholder engagement. Mayumi holds a Master of Public Administration (MPA) degree from Harvard University’s Kennedy School, where she was a Fulbright Scholar and awardee of the Kennedy School Grant.

David Takeuchi has worked for over 25 years as a senior executive, lawyer and finance professional in the financial services, automotive and electronics sectors. He has worked in investment banking at Merrill Lynch and at an alternative investments fund. He has also served as Chief Legal Officer at Citigroup’s Consumer Finance and Credit Card business, its then-largest business in Japan, and as Global Assistant General Counsel at Nissan Motors. David is licensed to practice law in California and is a Certified Financial Analyst (CFA). He holds degrees from the University of California at Berkeley, Columbia Law School, and the Johns Hopkins University (SAIS).

Mizuki is an ESG specialist with over 15 years’ experience in the financial industry working in client-facing roles at a trust bank in Japan and financial information companies. Prior to joining CAJ, Mizuki worked as an ESG consultant at MSCI, providing ESG solutions and support for institutional investors. She also served as the Asia-Pacific (APAC) lead for ESG issuer communications and was responsible for dialogue with rated companies. Mizuki has been a steering committee member of the Japan Sustainable Investment Forum (JSIF) since 2014.

Naomi Kato specializes in ESG and business sustainability research with over a decade of expertise. Prior to joining the CAJ, she worked at QUICK/QUICK ESG Research Center, one of Japan's leading financial data firms, where she served corporate clients with ESG investing market analysis and ESG performance & reporting advisory. She also carried out corporate disclosure analysis for institutions, such as CDP Japan. Naomi concurrently took a position at QUICK Sustainable Management Group to implement its initiative to align with TCFD and the UN Global Compact. Naomi has a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Hong Kong (HKU). Naomi holds a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Hong Kong (HKU).

Dr. Noriko Kusumi has been engaged in the field of ESG for nearly two decades as a practitioner, scholar, and educator. After earning a master’s degree from the University of London with a focus on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), she worked in the United States as an ESG analyst at ISS and MSCI. At ISS, Noriko led a corporate benchmarking project for Japan's then-largest ESG fund. After MSCI, Noriko earned a Ph.D. in Environmental Studies at the University of California, Berkeley, for her research on the role of business and finance in international environmental policy. During her doctoral tenure, Noriko instructed undergraduate environmental courses and served as a consultant for an AI-based ESG research firm (FactSet, formerly TruValue Labs). She has written book chapters for two publications: "The Role of Business in Global Sustainability Transformations" (D'Amato et al., eds., 2022) and "Trends in the Environment and Financial Investment" (Mizuguchi eds., 2011).

Reiko Yamada joins CAJ with extensive experience leading ESG research and benchmarking of APAC listed companies at a research firm in Melbourne, Australia. Prior to joining CAJ, she worked as a project manager in charge of climate action and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) at an Australian not-for-profit. Reiko has also worked in international development in Indonesia and has led a variety of projects that support environmental and community development. She holds a Master of Environment degree from the University of Melbourne.