Bloom&Co.
Yasuhiro Yano
Bloom&Co., CEO
After graduating from a university in the United States, he spent approximately nine years in brand marketing at P&G in Japan, Singapore and Switzerland, where he led the development and execution of marketing strategies with multinational teams. In 2012, he joined DeNA, where, as Executive Officer and Head of the Marketing Division, he oversaw company-wide marketing activities spanning the mobile gaming, e-commerce, new business and sports businesses, as well as a corporate rebranding. He founded Bloom&Co. in April 2015. He also serves as an Outside Director (Audit and Supervisory Committee Member) of LITALICO Inc., a mentor for “Shido,” a startup program run by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, and a marketing advisor for GRASSHOPPER, Dentsu’s startup support program.
Mayu Arao
Bloom&Co., Marketing Director
Procter & Gamble, Vice President
After graduating from the Faculty of Policy Management, Keio University, she spent 21 years at P&G in strategy development, brand building and marketing grounded in consumer and market understanding. Leading diverse teams from the Japan and Singapore offices, she gained marketing and brand-building experience across a wide range of categories, from ultra-premium cosmetics to soap for low-income consumers, serving consumers not only in Japan but also in Southeast Asia, India, China and the United States. As Vice President of Global SK-II, she oversaw innovation across the brand and drove a transformation of the entire brand experience. Her other roles include Executive Officer of P&G Japan and head of the SK-II Japan business.
Satoko Toyoura
Bloom&Co., Marketing Director
Schick / Cooper Vision, Marketing Director
Procter & Gamble, Brand Manager
After working in marketing for Whisper and Vidal Sassoon at P&G, she became a brand manager and led Ariel as well as the development and launch of P&G brands new to Japan. Her experience spans developing brand names, concepts and product strategies for Japanese consumers through to go-to-market (G2M) strategy and plan execution. She then led the women’s razor, men’s razor and shaving preparation businesses at Schick Japan, repeatedly setting new market share records. Most recently, as Marketing Director of CooperVision Japan, she led B2B2C marketing for medical devices.
Tomoko Uchiho
Bloom&Co., Marketing Director
NIHON L'ORÉAL, Marketing Director
Procter & Gamble, Brand Manager
After graduating from the Faculty of Policy Management, Keio University, she joined P&G, where she served as a brand manager in Kobe and Singapore, managing brands including Max Factor, SK-II and Lenor. At SK-II, she worked on global branding and new product development. She then joined L’Oréal as Marketing Director of Maybelline New York, where she led the rebranding of the No. 1 makeup brand. She has extensive marketing and branding experience in the beauty category. At Bloom&Co., she provides marketing advisory services to clients ranging from large corporations to startups.
Tasuku Cho
Bloom&Co., Managing Director
M-Force, Representative Director & CEO
P&G Japan, Executive Officer
After completing his master’s degree at the Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo, in 2001, he joined P&G, where he led product and concept research for new product development across Asia. As a brand manager, he managed a wide range of categories and brands, including Gillette, P&G Professional, Joy, Max Factor, SK-II, Braun and Oral-B. As head of the Japan cosmetics business, he led the transformation of SK-II’s marketing model, turning a stagnant business into one that grew rapidly for four consecutive years. After being appointed Executive Officer of P&G Japan, he drove a business model transformation as head of the home appliance business, centered on Braun. In 2019, he became Representative Director & CEO of M-Force, where he leads the SaaS business for “9segs,” a proprietary marketing framework built on the analysis of 50 categories and 700 brands.
Tomoko Tsue
Bloom&Co.
Mars Japan Limited, Consumer & Market Insights
Johnson & Johnson Vision Care Company, Global Strategic Insight
Procter & Gamble, R&D
After graduating from the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Osaka University of Pharmaceutical Sciences, she joined P&G. In R&D and product planning, she developed products grounded in a deep understanding of consumer insights, including the GelBall products for Ariel and Bold. At Johnson & Johnson and Mars Japan, she conducted a wide range of qualitative and quantitative research to understand consumers and physicians, analyze markets and evaluate concepts and products, contributing to the development and execution of insight-driven brand strategies and to business growth. She joined Bloom&Co. in July 2023.
Shoko Sakai
Bloom&Co.
Procter & Gamble, R&D and Marketing
She spent approximately 11 years at P&G in R&D, product planning and marketing. Working with multinational teams in Japan, Singapore and the United Kingdom, she covered a broad range of categories, from value-priced detergents to premium cosmetics. In diverse business environments spanning developed and developing markets, she turned around existing businesses, planned and developed new products and opened up new markets, contributing to business growth. Drawing on her experience in qualitative and quantitative research, from branding and concept evaluation to product performance testing, she became an independent marketing research consultant in the United Kingdom, serving a wide range of companies operating in Europe and Japan. She joined Bloom&Co. in July 2022.
Akitoshi Kin
Bloom&Co., Marketing Director
WeWork Japan, Head of Marketing & Public Affairs
Procter & Gamble, Brand Director
After graduating from the Department of Architecture, Faculty of Engineering, Kyoto University, he worked in business development and corporate strategy at entertainment startups in London and Tokyo before moving into brand marketing at P&G. During eight and a half years at P&G in Singapore and Japan, he achieved No. 1 market share for Pampers and Gillette and led Whisper’s entry into a new category, P&G Japan’s first new category entry in around 15 years. He then joined WeWork Japan as Head of Marketing & Public Affairs, overseeing marketing and public relations and contributing to the growth of the flexible office market amid the diversification of working styles during the COVID-19 pandemic. He joined Bloom&Co. in 2022 and leads its M&A business.
Masaharu Wakayama
Bloom&Co., Managing Director
Pocketalk, Representative Director & President
Fast Retailing GU, Marketing and PR Director
Procter & Gamble, Brand Manager
After completing his master’s degree in mechanical systems engineering at Nagoya University, he joined P&G, where he served as a brand manager in Japan and Singapore. He then joined GU, part of the Fast Retailing Group, where he oversaw a broad range of marketing, communications and PR, becoming the company’s youngest-ever department head. After serving as a Marketing Director at Bloom&Co., he joined Pocketalk Corporation as Director and CMO, and was appointed Representative Director, President & COO in 2024. Since August 2025, he has led Bloom&Co.’s M&A business.
Akiko Motomura
Bloom&Co., Customer Marketing Director
Starbucks Coffee Japan, Ltd., Merchandise Division Senior Specialist
Nike Japan, Inc., Marketplace Unit Lead
Johnson&Johnson Consumer Company, Sales Manager
Reckitt Benckiser Japan Ltd., Sales Manager
ROHTO Pharmaceutical Co.Ltd., Business Planner
Procter & Gamble, Sales/Category Account Executive
After graduating from the College of Liberal Arts at International Christian University, she joined P&G. In the Sales Division, she managed key accounts including major general merchandise stores, drugstores, home centers and wholesalers, and led sales planning for multiple categories at headquarters. She went on to hold sales leadership roles at Rohto Pharmaceutical, Reckitt and Johnson & Johnson, including managing global customers and sales teams. At Nike’s Sales Division, she led cross-functional teams for major footwear specialty and sporting goods retailers, and then worked for a startup in the San Francisco Bay Area. After returning to Japan, she led mid- to long-term strategy and product planning for the entire merchandise portfolio in Starbucks’ Merchandise Division. She joined Bloom&Co. in October 2025.
Yuichiro Masui
Bloom&Co., CTO
Toreta, Inc, Co-founder
Miil, Inc, Co-founder
BigCanvas, Inc, Co-founder
He became interested in programming in junior high school and was building systems as a part-time job by high school. While at university, he founded a web production company in 1999. After working as a freelance engineer, he moved to the United States in 2008 and founded BigCanvas, Inc. in Seattle, releasing the world’s first photo-sharing social networking iPhone app. He went on to found what is now Miil, Inc. in 2011 and Toreta, Inc. in 2013. He joined Bloom&Co. in July 2019. He has authored several books, including the official Ruby certification textbook for the Ruby Engineer Certification Examination (Silver/Gold).
Hazuki Naganobu
Bloom&Co.
DeNA, Market & Consumer research
After completing a master’s degree in ethics at the University of Tsukuba Graduate School, she joined DeNA Co., Ltd. In the Market Research Department of the Marketing Division, she conducted more than 100 qualitative and quantitative studies in a single year, primarily for mobile games and the Mobage platform. From her second year, as leader of a research team dedicated to new businesses, she conducted qualitative and quantitative research for services including the genetic testing service MYCODE, the entertainment service SHOWROOM and the car-sharing service Anyca. She joined Bloom&Co. in 2017. In addition to designing and leading research for strategy development, she focuses on marketing advisory for startups, drawing on her extensive research experience with digital services.
Takao Minamiura
Bloom&Co., CFO
Shiseido APAC, Vice President
POKKA, Group CFO
P&G, Finance
Graduated from the Faculty of Economics, Kyoto University, and completed a postgraduate degree at the University of London. He spent 17 years in finance at P&G in Japan and Singapore. Starting in FP&A, he expanded his remit to Product Supply Finance, Indirect Tax, and Governance & Risk Management, serving as the Asia regional lead for each function. He then led a business turnaround as Group CFO of POKKA, Sapporo Group’s overseas business, and as VP, Business Transformation at Shiseido APAC, he directed region-wide transformation projects. He joined Bloom&Co. in 2025 and, as CFO, oversees the group’s management control and finance. He is a Chartered Certified Accountant (ACCA).
Partners
Ayako Fukuyoshi
Partner / CEO, &Insight
After graduating from Kwansei Gakuin University, she joined P&G. In Consumer & Market Knowledge, she spent around 15 years conducting a wide range of research and analysis, including target consumer understanding, market analysis, concept and product development, sales forecasting, in-store development and effectiveness measurement, for brands such as Febreze, Wella Professionals, Pantene and SK-II. She also served as a training leader for qualitative research at P&G Asia. In 2016, she became an independent marketing research consultant who not only moderates qualitative interviews but also handles end-to-end research design, fieldwork and analysis across both qualitative and quantitative methods. Her clients range from large corporations to startups, and she has interviewed more than 10,000 people in qualitative research.
Sakurako Tamura
Partner / &Insight
After graduating from Keio University, she joined Triumph International Japan, where she was responsible for marketing research, including market analysis, target consumer insights, concept and product development, and campaign effectiveness measurement. She then joined Lion Corporation, where she worked on market forecasting as well as consumer understanding and concept and product development for brands including Kirei Kirei, Systema, NONIO and Top. After working on brand marketing and product planning for Top Super NANOX, she became an independent interview moderator and marketing researcher covering both quantitative and qualitative research in 2021.
Minoru Sako
Partner
He joined the design production company business architects inc. in 2004, where he handled advertising creative for some of Japan’s largest clients and worked on numerous web-centered brand design projects. Since 2008, he has worked under the name minsak, creating brand creative across genres in a variety of roles, including director, designer and developer. He has won numerous advertising awards in Japan and abroad, including Cannes Lions, The One Show, the CLIO Awards, the Japan Media Arts Festival and the Good Design Award, and has worked with many prestige brands such as Cartier and Hermès.
Hiroki Nakamura
Partner
PARTY Creative Director / Founder
Yahoo Japan Corporation, Executive Creative Director, MS Division, Media Company
Dentsu Digital, Visiting Executive Creative Director
VALU, Inc., Director
Preventive Medicine Promotion Association, Board Member
Starting in 2000 at Dentsu, he released a series of banner ads with groundbreaking approaches and went on to lead entire digital campaigns. In 2011, he went independent and co-founded PARTY with four partners. He has won more than 300 advertising awards in Japan and abroad, including Cannes Lions, The One Show and D&AD, and has served on numerous juries. In 2019, he was appointed Executive Creative Director of the MS Division at Yahoo Japan Corporation, where he leads business development in advertising with the mission of making online advertising something people genuinely like.
Takayuki Fukatsu
Partner
THE GUILD CEO / Designer / Engineer
After studying product design in London during university, he joined the design studio tha ltd. in 2005. He later went independent and, following the success of his photo app, founded Art&Mobile. In 2013, he brought together freelance designers and engineers to establish THE GUILD, a creative team specializing in smartphones and UI. He currently works across a broad range of fields, from app development to advertising and art.
Nobuaki Chonan
Partner
Former Partner, IPO Group, Strategic Markets Division, Ernst & Young ShinNihon LLC
Certified Public Accountant, IFRS Promotion
Certified Public Accountant. He became a partner at Ernst & Young ShinNihon LLC in 2008, focusing primarily on IPOs, business succession for private companies, reorganizations of private and listed companies, and financial statement audits. He stepped down as partner in July 2015. He has served on the Tax Research Committee of the Japanese Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the study group on class shares issued by unlisted companies, the First and Second Subcommittees of the council on restoring confidence in and revitalizing emerging markets, and the review panel on investment-based crowdfunding. He has been an Outside Director of bitFlyer, Inc. since August 2015.
Masakazu Komatsu
Partner
Kotohira Sogo Law Office, Representative Attorney
Graduated from Nada High School in 1996, passed the National Bar Examination in 2000, and graduated from the Faculty of Law, Kyoto University, in 2001. Registered as an attorney in 2002 and joined Mori Sogo Law Offices (now Mori Hamada & Matsumoto). Established Sueyoshi Sogo Law Office (now Shiomizaka Law Office) in April 2007 and Komatsu Sogo Law Office (now Kotohira Sogo Law Office) in 2014. In March 2013, he secured the first acquittal in Japanese history in a case referred by the National Tax Agency’s criminal investigation division and indicted by the Special Investigation Department of the Public Prosecutors Office. The prosecution’s appeal was dismissed in January 2014, and the acquittal became final when the prosecutors abandoned a further appeal in February 2014. Author of “Shoritsu Zero e no Chosen” (The Challenge of a Zero Percent Win Rate), which recounts the case.
