Our Team

Ken Wada

和田 健佑

CEO | 代表取締役

Foreign investment advisor to the City of Kobe. During university, Ken studied in Germany on a government scholarship, majoring in sports psychology and business administration. After graduating, Ken joined the overseas corporate sales division of Nippon Express in Germany, then took a similar overseas corporate sales role at MUFG Bank in Germany. Seeing Japanese companies lose ground in Europe, and wanting to change that, Ken returned to Japan and founded REM Inc. in October 2020. Ken creates cross-border business development projects across Europe, North America, the CIS and Asia, and stays with clients from strategy through execution for business development between Japan and overseas markets. Ken knows go-to-market challenges, and how to solve them, in depth: in the six years since founding REM, Ken has set up five local subsidiaries from zero. By driving business development in Japan and abroad, Ken works to revitalize the Japanese economy.

Hayato Kaneda

金田 隼人

Director | 取締役

Born in Saitama Prefecture. During university, Hayato conducted a world tour visiting universities with sponsorship from multiple companies. In 2012, he joined an education business company as a new graduate and later became executive vice president. In 2016, after resigning, he established a business development production company. He has participated in new business ventures for various companies, from large corporations to mid-sized companies and startups. Since 2018, he has been involved in the founding of various operating companies and startups. He specializes in new business planning, development of unique educational methods, construction of license business models, regional revitalization, and food business development from concept to strategy implementation. Since 2022, he has also served as an advisor to Fukaya City, Saitama Prefecture.

Shu Hiramatsu

平松 嵩

Director | 取締役

Born in Chigasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture. At 20 he set off on a round-the-world trip, learning how business is done country by country through the companies and people he met. Back in Japan he worked in corporate advertising and promotion, and in 2014 moved to New York, where he worked with Japanese and American companies. He now runs his own company and serves as a director of REM in charge of marketing for cross-border business development. For each target market he designs who to reach, what to say and how, and builds the messaging and brand that land with local buyers. He produces websites, proposal decks, video and trade-show messaging for overseas markets as one consistent story, and updates the positioning from how buyers respond in meetings. For Japanese companies going overseas and foreign companies entering Japan alike, he turns the winning path into reality on the marketing side.

Yasuko Tokifuji

US Business Development Partner | 米国事業開発パートナー

More than 20 years in the pharmaceutical and life-sciences industry, spanning R&D, strategy and operations, and global projects. Drawing on experience in both Japan and the United States, she bridges differences in global business, organizations and culture, and supports clients from strategy through execution. As a partner at REM, she supports Japanese companies entering the US market and building partnerships, mainly in life sciences.

Yuta Arai

Europe Business Development Partner | 欧州事業開発パートナー

At Daikin Industries he worked in corporate sales, opening new sales channels through collaboration with manufacturers in other industries, and later supported top-management decision-making while leading a large-scale construction project. After leaving the company he earned an MBA at ESADE Business School in Spain and worked at a venture capital firm assessing investments in technology companies in Japan, the US and Europe. Now based in Barcelona, he supports companies entering overseas markets end to end, from go-to-market strategy to building sales and partner channels. His strengths are building networks across industries and disciplines, and developing business through collaboration with a wide range of partners.

Shun Kaneko

Leadership Development Partner | リーダーシップ開発パートナー

Shun began his career in sales and marketing, then moved into full-cycle HR across seven industries (trade, education, automotive, chemicals, consulting, law and big tech) in organizations of 60 to 1.5 million employees, in Japan, the UK and Singapore. At Amazon he was APAC Lead of the Amazon Leadership Institute, a team of 16 professionals selected globally, responsible for developing about 1,600 senior leaders across six APAC countries; during his tenure he designed and delivered 251 workshops, completed by 5,257 participants from 19 countries. Over his career he has contributed to the development of more than 8,000 professionals worldwide. Today, through Leadership Design Lab Asia, he helps organizations build leadership into their daily operating rhythm rather than one-off training. As a partner at REM, he supports leadership and team building for companies expanding across borders.

Tatiana Funke

Europe Legal Partner | 欧州法務パートナー

After passing the German state law examinations, Tatiana worked as a lawyer and consultant specializing in data protection law (Datenschutzrecht) and IT law, at firms including Linnemann. Alongside non-executive director roles at companies, Tatiana is co-managing director of The FemBiz (R&F fem relations UG), a Leipzig-based community and company for women's empowerment and business networking.

Taka Mikami

UK Business Development Partner | 英国事業開発パートナー

After graduating from university, Taka worked as a consultant at PwC Japan on cross-border M&A, overseas companies entering Japan and Japanese companies expanding abroad. Based in London since 2023, Taka supports overseas companies entering the Japanese market and promotes multinational business.