Akira is a licensed psychologist who has taught and practiced counseling psychology for more than 25 years in the U.S. A Japanese native educated both in Japan and in the U.S., he is thoroughly bicultural in his professional orientation and personal values.
His clinical experience with a multitude of clients has provided him with unique insights into human nature as well as with differential intervention approaches to assess and solve problems. This tenet, in combination with his multicultural knowledge and familiarity, has helped him design and develop several successful corporate training programs in Japan. Through this work, Akira has become quite familiar with the health care and pharma landscape in Japan and its specific issues and opportunities.
He has been a popular facilitator, trainer and consultant, both in Japan and the U.S., in part because of his thorough inquiry into topics of discussion or presentation and in part because of his personable, often humorous, presentation style that makes potentially complex issues easy to comprehend for the audience. He is culturally sensitive to domains ranging from more obvious ethnicity and gender issues to more subtle corporate, labor and organizational factors.
On a personal level, he has been practicing yoga for more than 15 years. He has mastered various advanced postures (asanas) that he even considered “impossible” in the beginning. He practices meditation and psychological hypnosis regularly while teaching these skills to qualified healthcare professionals. He loves to cook, especially Chinese, which requires elaborate preparation of basic ingredients, followed by swift and creative adaptation of original recipes!
