Management

Seiichiro Fujiwara

CEO

Was a part of Morgan Stanley’s sales and marketing division and marketed financial products to major corporate clients before setting up Link Technologies, a high-tech venture capital firm, in 1994. Today, Seiichiro serves as the CEO of eLife ever since he founded it in 1999. Seiichiro is a graduate of Social Studies at Hitotsubashi University, and received his MBA degree from the Colombia University in New York.

Akihiko Kotani

CFO

Joined Nomura Securities in 1988, and was involved in the establishment of the international business department’s private banking division. Akihiko moved to Citibank in 1993 and worked in Credit Suisse’s private banking sector from 1996 to 2000. Since joining the company in 2000, he has been serving as eLife’s CFO. Akihiko graduated from Tokyo University’s School of Economics.

Maki Sugiyama

CMO

Joined Hakuhodo Japan and was assigned to the digital network promotional office. Maki led the digital advertising and her fields of research and development evolved to include interactive communication between corporations and customers. In 1999, she became a founding member of eLife, and today, as the CMO, she oversees and leads the marketing strategies for eLife’s globally renowned Japanese corporate clients. Maki is a graduate of Showa Women’s University in Tokyo.

David Wu

Director

In addition to 20 years of experience in business development and marketing at multinational companies such as Hutchison Telecom and GE Capital, David had also provided internet solutions to US clients as part of the Internet business solutions department for Silicon Valley’s Intel. As an eLife Director since 1999, he is involved in both domestic and international business development activities. David majored in Economics at the Harvard University, and is fluent in Chinese and Japanese.

Operating

Junko Ishii

Operating Officer

Previously a market researcher at Toshiba’s Life Research Center and also a member of Toshiba’s General Research Centre’s product technology division, Junko was involved in the planning and the productization of computers.  She joined eLife in 2002, is responsible for both the creation and implementation of marketing strategies, especially for projects that require qualitative research based on consumer feedback, social listening and MROC. Junko majored in Communications Science at the International Christian University (Tokyo).

Satoshi Kitajima

Operating Officer/CCO

A professional whose expertise was in architecture and interior design/planning for retail stores, on-site displays, and public buildings, Satoshi changed his career focus to the Internet in 1994. He adopted interactive communication methods for brand websites as a web designer, and in 2005, he became the CEO of Informs Inc., an eLife-owned web design company. Informs Inc. merged with eLife in 2005, and Satoshi joined the Board as the CCO, where he still continues to lead the company’s web design division today.

Hironori Kobayashi

Operating Officer

After joining a software development firm, Mr. Kobayashi engaged in the design and development of mobile and web-based systems as a system engineer. In 2007, he joined Aida Inc., an eLife-owned company specializing in system design. He joined eLife Inc. in 2010 and has since been involved in the construction of web-based systems for multiple clients as well as in the development of our integrated digital marketing system Social Community Suite. He became a board member in 2016. Mr. Kobayashi is a graduate of Meiji University and majored in Science and Technology.

Tatsuya Yamamoto

Operating Officer

Mr. Yamamoto has a wealth of experience and knowledge as a freelance web designer and a front-end engineer. In 2007, he joined eLife-owned Informs Inc. where he engaged in the construction of brand and corporate websites. He started working for eLife in 2011 and has since been involved in the design and development of clients’ websites and eLife’s internal digital systems.

Global Team

Shigetsu Sakamoto

Head of International Business Development

Graduated from Indiana University Bloomington with a Business Degree and received his MBA from Hitotsubashi University in Japan. Shigetsu currently heads the Singapore branch with his varied expertise and experiences as a social media specialist, account and project manager, and a relationship manager. He specializes in the fields of fashion, retail, airlines, cosmetics and FMCG. Shigetsu is a native speaker of both English and Japanese.

Nguyen Huu Ngoc

Developer

Majored in IT and graduated from the Hanoi University of Science and Technology (HUST). Gokku participated in and took home the championships for a number of AI-related contests. He came to Japan in 2016, and became a part of the eLife Systems Team in 2017. Gokku is a native speaker of Vietnamese, is fluent in Japanese and speaks basic English.