He worked as a software engineer and a tech magazine editor in Japan. In 2014, he came to study gerontology at Portland Community College. Japan is the most aging country in the world; therefore, aging is one of the most important issues, but there’s very few studies about aging. This concern drove him into the field of gerontology. He met Taka Murakawa in Portland and joined the Encorepreneur Cafe.

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Co-Founder & President

Before starting the Encorepreneur Cafe, he had visited Portland from Japan many times and learned a lot from Portlanders who he had met and talked to. Have you ever met him?
He had worked for a Japanese financial service company and engaged in business development for 15 years. As one of his achievements in the company, he founded a successful venture to provide the energy conservation technology for greenhouses and the financial aids. His venture has helped farmers save energy and make more profit.
After leaving the company, he joined the Japan Branch of Ashoka, a global organization identifies and invests in leading social entrepreneurs. Through Ashoka, he met Masue Katayama, a founder of Shinko Fukushikai Social Welfare Corporation and decided to plunge into the new venture in Portland.

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Co-Founder & Chair

Masue Katayama was born in Japan during the World War II. She started affordable nursing homes for middle-class families in Japan in the early 1980s by renovating vacant buildings such as former company dormitories. Her model was innovative at that time because there were only two options available: poor quality public housing or very expensive private homes. She established Shinko Fukushikai Social Welfare Corporation which now runs 36 retirement communities and 8 child care facilities in Japan (as of 2017).
In 2012, she was appointed as a Senior Fellow of Ashoka, the international organization supporting social entrepreneurs. Also, she is the first Japanese to be selected as one of the Schwab Foundation Social Entrepreneurs of the Year (2014).

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