After graduating from the Faculty of Agriculture (BS), Kyoto University, Yosuke Tsuji obtained his MBA at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. He worked at Sony Corporation and Monex, Inc. before establishing Money Forward, Inc., in 2012. He currently serves as an executive officer of the Japan Association of New Economy (JANE), executive officer of the Japan Association of Corporate Executives (KEIZAI DOYUKAI) and executive committee member of the Silicon Valley Japan Platform (SVJP).
Naoya Kanesaka graduated from the University of Tokyo (Economics) in 2007. He worked at Goldman Sachs (Tokyo and San Francisco office) for eight years, during which he was involved in advisory services for cross-border M&As and structuring public offerings in the technology and financial sector, as well as later working for Goldman Sachs’s hands-on private equity investment team. He joined Money Forward, Inc., in 2014 and has been serving as Director since 2017. He also serves as General Partner of HIRAC FUND run by Money Forward Venture Partners, Inc. established in May 2020.
Takuya Nakade joined Jupiter Shop Channel Co., Ltd. in 2001 and led CRM system development as IT manager. In 2007 he joined Simplex Inc. and developed stock trading systems catered to securities companies and subsequently served as product manager of FX dealing system. He joined Money Forward, Inc. in 2015 and developed financial system. In 2016, he was appointed as CTO.
Masanobu Takeda joined Money Forward, Inc. in 2017 at the timing of M&A of Klavis Inc., where he has been serving as Director and CFO since 2016. Prior to joining Klavis, he served as Director at Macromill Group and was in charge of corporate planning including corporate and HR strategic planning, M&As, and new business development, and as Director and Head of Corporate Planning at eole Inc.
Masaaki Tanaka has over 40 years of experience in the finance industry, beginning his career at the Mitsubishi Bank (currently MUFG Bank). His previous senior roles include Representative Director and Deputy President of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, President and CEO of Union Bank, N.A. and Senior Managing Executive Officer and CEO for the Americas of The Bank of Tokyo–Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd. He was also a board member of Morgan Stanley from 2011 until 2015. He served as a member of Financial System Council of the Financial Service Agency and various other governmental organizations. From September until December of 2018, He was President and CEO of Japan Investment Corporation. Mr. Tanaka was appointed Executive Chairman of the Board of Nippon Paint Holdings Co., Ltd. in March 2019, Chairman, President & CEO in January 2020, and served as Adviser from April until June 2021. He was appointed as Advisor to Dean, Graduate School of Economics, The University of Tokyo in October 2021. He is also serving as Vice-Chair of the Board of Councilors of the US-Japan Council since 2013.
After engaging in venture capital businesses targeting Japan and U.S. at Fujitsu Limited and Mitsui & Co., Ltd., Akira Kurabayashi oversaw investments in Japan at Globespan Capital Partners and Salesforce Ventures. He joined Draper Nexus Partners (now DNX Ventures) as Managing Director in March 2015 and was appointed as Managing Partner & Head of Japan in December 2020.
He holds an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and a bachelor and Ph.D. degree from Doshisha University.
Etsuko Okajima is a professional in human capital management and executive-level leadership development.
She founded ProNova Inc. in 2007 and has been serving as CEO. Earlier in her career, she worked at Mitsubishi Corporation and McKinsey & Company. She also worked at Globis Group and engaged in establishing Globis Managment Bank Inc., where she served as President from 2015. She holds an MBA from Harvard University.
Hiroaki Yasutake joined Rakuten in 1998 as one of its earliest employees, and created various Rakuten services as a software engineer as well as building the tech team from scratch and leading the entire Rakuten group tech team as Managing Executive Officer until January 2016. After Rakuten, he moved to the US and founded a new startup called Junify Corporation. At the same time, he supports many Japanese companies as an advisor on innovation and technology management. Serves as a board member of Techmatrix from 2013, and director of Japan CTO Association since 2019.
In 2004, Gen Miyazawa founded and became CEO of Cirius Technologies,Inc.After the company was acquired by Yahoo Japan Corporation in August 2010, in April 2014 he was appointed Corporate Officer (youngest in the company’s history), and President of Search Services Company. In April 2015, he supervised the entire media services including the Top Page and News, in addition to Search service. In April 2018, he was appointed Managing Corporate Officer, President of Media Company where he supervised the five divisions responsible for sales activities, media, search, development and new businesses. In October 2019, he was appointed Director in 2019 and Director, EVP, Senior Managing Corporate Officer in 2022.
After working for NEC Corporation, Yozo Ueda joined MELCO INC. and served as Managing Director, and Representative Director and President of its subsidiary. He was appointed as full-time Corporate Auditor at MELCO HOLDINGS INC. in 2003. He also served as Audit & Supervisory Board Member at Digital Forest Co., Ltd. (currently NTTCom Online Marketing Solutions Corporation) and Cirius Technologies Co., Ltd. (currently Yahoo Japan Corporation). He was appointed as Audit & Supervisory Board Member (full-time) at Money Forward, Inc. in February 2015.
After being registering as a lawyer, Katsuyuki Tanaka joined Yuasa and Hara in 1993. He then established Tokyo Seiwa Sogo Law Firm in 2006 and serves as its partner. He has more than 20 years of experience in corporate legal and compliance advisory services.
Hidetoshi started his career at the Investment Banking Division of Goldman Sachs in 1999, and became Managing Director in 2012. During his nineteen years there, he led various high profile M&A and financing transactions for Technology, Media and Telecom companies. He left Goldman Sachs in 2018 to join VQ. After serving as COO, Hidetoshi is currently the CSO, and is also a member of the Board of Directors.
Masami Hatakeyama worked for the Japan Securities Dealers Association for 15 years, mainly coordinating with authorities and industry leaders to create self-regulatory rules. He joined Rakuten Securities, Inc. in November 1999 and served as Director and Executive Officer for eight and a half years, overseeing the Compliance Department and other operations. In April 2008, he was appointed as Director of SBI Japannext Securities, and in February 2011, he was appointed as Representative Director and CEO of SBI Japannext Securities. In February 2023, he was appointed as an outside auditor of the Company.
Group Executive Officer, CoPA (Chief of Public Affairs), Head of Sustainability and Head of Money Forward Fintech Institute
Toshio Taki
After graduating from the Keio University Faculty of Economics in 2004, Toshio Taki joined Nomura Securities Co., Ltd. At the Nomura Institute of Capital Markets Research, he engaged in research on household behavior, the pension system, and financial institution business models among other themes. After receiving his MBA from Stanford University and working in the planning division of Nomura Holdings, Inc., he joined in the launch of Money Forward, Inc., in 2012. He is also an expert committee member of the Council for Promotion of Regulatory Reform (Cabinet Office), a Representative Director of the Japan Association for Financial APIs, an adviser of Fintech Association of Japan, a member of the Dementia Innovation Alliance Public and Private Sector Working Group (Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry), etc.
Hirokazu Ban started his career at a securities company in 2001 and worked in sales for 2 years. After graduating from law school in 2007, he was registered as a lawyer in 2008. Subsequently, he joined legal department of SBI SECURITIES and was in charge of group-wide projects at corporate planning department. In 2011, he was seconded to SBI Holdings, where he was in charge of executing group strategy and managing its subsidiaries as Head of CEO Office. He also served as Director and Head of Administration Department of SBI Money Plaza Inc. after contributing to its establishment. He joined Money Forward, Inc. in January 2016.
Daisuke Sergio Ito joined FreeBit Co., Ltd. in 2003, where he was in charge of public relations, corporate branding, and business strategy in the CEO’s office. In 2006, he left the company and moved to New York, where he studied art and became a freelance designer. In 2010, he returned to Japan and became the president of a design firm, An INC. In 2013, he won the Good Design Award. From 2019, he has been engaging Money Forward group as head of design team. He was appointed as CDO in 2020.
After graduating from the University of Tokyo Faculty of Law in 2002, he registered as a lawyer in 2004. After joining Mitsui, Yasuda & Wani in the same year, he worked at Gaikokuho Kyodo-Jigyo Horitsu Jimusho Linklaters (Linklaters Tokyo) and T&K Partners for more than 16 years before joining the Company in January 2021. He was also involved in the launch of BizForward Inc., a joint venture with Mitsubishi UFJ Bank, Ltd. and was appointed as Director in charge of the administrative division of BizForward Inc. in August 2021. In December of the same year, he was appointed as the Company’s Group Executive Officer and CLO.
Masayuki Matsuhisa joined Hewlett-Packard Japan in 1997 and oversaw system development business mainly for large banks. In 2011, he was transferred to Hewlett-Packard Singapore as a project director, responsible for IT projects in Asian countries. In 2016, he returned to Japan and joined Amazon Web Services Japan. As General Manager of the Financial Solutions Division, he focused on cloud adoption in the financial services industry. He joined Money Forward, Inc., in 2023.
Group Executive Officer and CHO (Chief Human Officer), Head of DEI (Diversity, Equity & Inclusion)
Chiaki Ishihara
Chiaki Ishihara joined Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu LLC in 2012 and registered as a Japanese CPA in 2015. She joined Money Forward, Inc., in 2016, where she was involved in IPO preparation. After the IPO, she was engaged in the international public offerings, section transfer from Mothers to the First Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, and led the sustainability project as Division Manager of Corporate Planning Division and Head of IR. In 2021, she moved to HR and has led the project to revise the human resource policies as General Manager of People Forward Department. She was appointed as CHO in 2023.
After graduated from Aoyama Gakuin University, Kiminobu Tahira engaged in business development of systems for the distribution industry at NEC Corporation. He then joined Rakuten, Inc., where he engaged in setting up marketing division, constructing reward program and facilitating business alliance of Rakuten Ichiba. After leading retail marketing at Monex, Inc., he joined Money Forward, Inc. as Head of marketing department.
After passing Japanese CPA examination, Kazuya Yamada joined Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu LLC, in 2016. He then experienced Executive Director and CFO at Pankaku Inc. and Executive Director and Head of Venture Support at Bridge Consulting Group Inc. He joined Money Forward, Inc. in 2014 and served as Head of CEO Office and Head of Development of Money Forward Cloud. He currently oversees strategy as Money Forward Business Company CSO.
After graduating from Graduate School of Information Science and Electrical Engineering, Kyushu University, Naoki Kuroda joined Monex, Inc. in 2008. From 2012, he developed bulletin board system and other web services and offered marketing consulting. He then joined Money Forward, Inc. in 2013 soon after its foundation. He engaged in the development of Money Forward ME and Money Forward Cloud and serves as PO of Money Forward Cloud Expense. Currently, he is also the General Manager of the Wallet Business Department, which develops Money Forward Pay for Business.
After graduating from Chuo University (Economics), Daisuke Motokawa joined NTT DOCOMO, INC. in 2003 and engaged in solution sales for large corporations. He was then transferred to FeliCa Networks, Inc. and in charge of business planning of mobile wallet and newly set up big data business. After returning to NTT DOCOMO, INC. he experienced NFC/Fintech projects. He joined Money Forward, Inc. in 2016.
Shun Matsuoka joined Sony Corporation in 1998 and engaged in accounting and tax operations, including projects for early closing of accounts and adoption of new system and new accounting standards. While in Sony, he passed Small and Medium Business Consultant, Certified Public Tax Accountant, and Certified Public Accountant examinations. He was transferred to England for 5 years from 2012. He joined Money Forward, Inc. in April 2019 as Co-Accounting Department Manager. He was registered as a CPA in 2020.
Group Executive Officer
President and Representative Director, Money Forward Kessai, Inc.
President and Representative Director, Biz Forward, Inc.
Naomichi Tomiyama
Naomichi Tomiyama graduated from Keio University (Economics) in 2010 and joined KPMG AZUSA LLC where he engaged in financial and internal control audit of entertainment and tourism industry. He was also involved in many voluntary and legal liquidation projects in a consulting company. In 2014, he joined Money Forward, Inc. and engaged in strategy planning and new business development of Money Forward Cloud. He was appointed as Representative Director of MF KESSAI, Inc. (currently Money Forward Kessai,Inc.) in 2017. He also serves as the President and Representative Director of Biz Forward Inc. in 2021.
Group Executive Officer and Cross-functional Business Head
President and Representative Director, ADXL, Inc.
Seiko Harada
After graduating from Kyoto University (Law), she engaged in marketing and PR in an entertainment industry. She then joined GREE, Inc. in 2011 as PR. After engaging in setting up an industry group, she was transferred to business development and creative department of social game. After 2016, she engaged in setting up social media marketing business at Glossom, Inc., a subsidiary of GREE, Inc. She joined Money Forward, Inc. in 2018.
Ryo Shibuya joined Adways Inc. in 2007 and was in charge of developing advertising system. He then worked at GREE, Inc. and experienced the development of advertising system and new business. He joined Money Forward, Inc. in 2014 and was involved in development of invoice and accounting / tax return modules. He also experienced the launch of payroll and MyNumber modules. He has been serving as VPoE and Head of Development of B2B services.
Group Executive Officer
and Representative Director,
Money Forward Venture Partners, Inc.
Satoshi Furuhashi
After graduating from Rikkyo University in 2011, Satoshi Furuhashi worked at Mizuho Bank, Ltd. and Speee, Inc. He founded Smartcamp Co.,Ltd., which offers SaaS marketing platform BOXIL SaaS etc. He joined Money Forward group by M&A in November 2019. He was appointed as Representative Director at Money Forward Venture Partners, Inc. and engaged in setting up a venture capital HIRAC FUND.
In 2000, Takashi Ichikawa joined Monex Securities, where he developed and operated securities trading systems and engaged in various types of project management including subsidiary mergers. He subsequently worked for a major financial system development company, where he served as the leader of the infrastructure division and launched a new FX transaction site. He joined the launch of Money Forward, Inc., in 2012.
Nana Nagai started her career at Recruit Co., Ltd. in 2005, and later became a member of the startup team at Randstad Japan. In 2014, she relocated to Southeast Asia and served as an executive officer in charge of marketing at Evolable Asia Vietnam (now Hybrid Technologies). After moving to Rakuten Singapore, she lead the launch of new business for app service providers. She joined Money Forward Vietnam as COO in 2021 and was appointed as CEO in 2022. Nana holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration from Nanyang Technological University.
Sandy Kimura joined Sony Corp in 2001 and started his career in the accounting function. Later he started his own web agency, and then in 2011 joined Rakuten Inc., as part of the global M&A and corporate development function. In 2012 he was dispatched to Rakuten Germany to manage the EU Ecommerce operations, and then in 2016 moved to the US to be the Chief Strategy Officer of Rakuten Americas to lead their M&A and partnerships. He joined Money Forward America in 2022 to lead the group’s global strategy.
