Looking Beyond 130 Years of Friendship

Born in Kyoto in 1959, she graduated from the Faculty of Letters at Kyoto University and joined the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), where she focused on educational development programs. Over the course of her career, she held several senior leadership positions, including Senior Vice President, Director General of the Human Development Department, Director of the JICA Research Institute, and Chief Representative of the Bangladesh Office. She pursued further studies at the UNESCO International Institute for Educational Planning and completed the DEA program at Paris V University, later earning a Ph.D. from the Graduate School of International Development at Nagoya University.
She has played a pivotal role in designing and implementing Japan’s international education cooperation initiatives, while also contributing to academic research on educational development and the internationalization of higher education. Her work has been widely published in academic books and journals.
Since 2025, she has served as Executive Director of the Sasakawa Peace Foundation, where she leads strategic dialogue and exchange programs with Asia, supports peacebuilding efforts, and oversees Japan-China exchange initiatives.
She concurrently serves as Senior Research Advisor at the JICA Ogata Sadako Research Institute for Peace and Development, Director of the Honda Foundation, Director of the Japan Educational Exchanges and Services, Director of Care International Japan, and Councilor of the Broadcast Program International Exchange Center, among others.

He holds a Ph.D. in International Relations from Sophia University. His research focuses on international relations and environmental politics, especially Brazil, Latin America, and Japan’s foreign policy. He has been a visiting researcher at the International Relations Institute (IRI) of the University of São Paulo and at the University of the Andes in Colombia and previously taught at Kanda University of International Studies and Tokyo University of Foreign Studies. He is the author of Environmental Politics on Linkages and Preferences: Brazil’s Climate Change Policy in the Age of “Global Governance” (in Japanese) and has contributed chapters to edited volumes published by Springer and Routledge.

Kotaro Hayata is a Brazil-born lawyer, admitted to the São Paulo Bar Association (OAB/SP) in 1996 and registered with the Japan Federation of Bar Associations and the Tokyo Bar Association in 2023. Based in Tokyo, he supports the Brazilian community in Japan in coordination with the Consulates General of Brazil in Tokyo, Nagoya, and Hamamatsu. His practice focuses on cross-border matters between Japan and Brazil, including civil, criminal, commercial, and international law. He graduated from PUC-SP and holds an LL.M. in Market Law and an MBA in Finance. He is also a seasoned executive with over 20 years of experience in the Japanese and Brazilian financial sectors.

Kim Kataguiri was first elected to the Chamber of Deputies in 2018, with 465,310 votes. He is the founder and national coordinator of Movimento Brasil Livre (MBL), a movement that played a key role in the impeachment of former President Dilma Rousseff. In 2015, Kim was named one of the thirty most influential young people in the world by TIME magazine. In 2016, the March 13 demonstration led by the MBL brought more than 3 million people to the streets across Brazil.In 2022, he was re-elected as a Federal Deputy with more than 295,000 votes. In 2025, Kataguiri published “Between the Robe and the Rostrum: How the Supreme Federal Court Has Intervened in the Legislative Process Since the 1988 Constitution”, a book that examines the tensions between the legislative and judicial branches.

Pedro Aihara holds a Bachelor’s degree in Military Sciences, with a focus on Disaster Management and Prevention, from the Minas Gerais Military Fire Department. He also holds a Bachelor’s degree in Law from the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG). He completed postgraduate studies in Project Management at the University of São Paulo (USP); Public Management with an emphasis on Civil Protection and Defense at the Federal University of Juiz de Fora (UFJF); Business Management at Fundação Dom Cabral; and Disaster Risk Management at Yamaguchi University, Japan. He holds a Master’s degree in Law, with a focus on Access to Justice and Human Rights Education, from the Federal University of Minas Gerais. He is the founder of the Parliamentary Front on Disaster Prevention and Humanitarian Cooperation, a professor, and a Federal Deputy representing the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil.

Rodrigo Hayashi Goulart, 40, is a veterinarian and politician affiliated with the Social Democratic Party (PSD). In the 2024 municipal elections, he was elected for his third term as a city councilor in São Paulo. In 2025, he assumed the position of Municipal Secretary of Economic Development and Labor, where he works to strengthen entrepreneurship, job creation, and professional qualification, in addition to attracting investments to the state capital of São Paulo. Among his main agendas are economic development, mobility, the promotion of tourism, the encouragement of sports and culture, city fairs and events, as well as the defense of micro and small entrepreneurs.

George Hato is a physician and a city councilor in São Paulo, currently serving his fourth term, with a track record marked by the defense of health and the prevention of disease through the practice of sports. He earned his medical degree from the Faculdade de Mogi das Cruzes and worked in several Primary Health Care Units (UBSs) in the city, an experience that gave him a broad understanding of the challenges facing the public health system. This direct contact with the population strengthened his conviction about the importance of an active medical caucus in the City Council, capable of prioritizing public policies focused on health.The son of the late Congressman Jooji Hato, George follows the same values that guided his father’s trajectory, such as integrity, honor, respect, and gratitude. A grandson of Japanese immigrants, he preserves the traditions of his cultural heritage and, as a councilor, seeks to strengthen exchange between Brazil and Japan by supporting events and social initiatives of the Nikkei community.

Currently Director of Operations, Events and Institutional Affairs at Japan House São Paulo, with a degree in Advertising and Marketing, he worked for over 9 years at SPTURIS, the official Tourism and Events agency of the city of São Paulo. He served as a project manager at the SAVE THE CHILDREN World Alliance in Mexico. Currently, as a volunteer, he is Director of Bunkyo Brazilian Society of Japanese Culture, Vice-President of the Administration Committee of the Japanese Pavilion in Ibirapuera Park, and President of COPANI Pan-American Nikkei Convention 2026, which takes place in Brazil.

After graduating from the Department of Educational Psychology in the Faculty of Education at the University of Tokyo in March 1990, Nobuyuki Konishi joined NEC Corporation. He worked for 5 years in the Personnel Department of NEC.
Then he joined the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), where he worked for 27 years on international cooperation projects in developing countries over the world. He was involved in formulation and implementation of development cooperation projects in Southeast Asia in the fields of higher education and vocational training.
He has also been involved in private sector finance and investment projects for social business in developing countries.
Since April 2021, he has been working for the Sasakawa Peace Foundation (SPF), where heis engaged in management of international cooperation and exchange projects with the Asian region, particularly South and Southeast Asia, and the Middle East.