About

Born in Nagano Prefecture in 1948. After graduating from Saitama University and completing graduate studies at Tokyo Metropolitan University, he joined the Ministry of Justice. He later earned an MBA from the University of California, Berkeley, and passed the US Certified Public Accountant (CPA) exam.

He joined the United Nations in 1980, serving with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO). In 2002, he became Controller and Director of Finance at UNHCR, and served as UNHCR Representative in Japan from 2008 to 2009.

From 2009 to 2016, he was Professor at Toyo Eiwa University, and concurrently served as Special Professor at the University of Tokyo’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences from 2010 to 2015.

He was President of the UN Association for UNHCR (2014–2019), and a member of the Ministry of Justice’s Immigration and Residency Policy Advisory Committee (2013–2020). He currently serves as Advisor to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

His research focuses on Japan’s refugee policy. He is the author of several books, including 30 Ways to Help Refugees and Basic Knowledge about Refugees: Beyond the Conflict between Politics and Human Rights, and has published numerous articles on the subject.

His hobby is running marathons.