Researchers
By inviting leading experts in the field of economic security from within and outside dentsu and designing a system that allows for the dissemination of high-level information, DCER will support the business growth of Japanese companies from multiple perspectives.
LEADERSHIP
-
Shigeru Kitamura
Executive Director
Former Secretary General of the National Security Secretariat - Mr. Kitamura joined the National Police Agency in 1980 after graduating from the Faculty of Law, the University of Tokyo. He has served as Executive Secretary to the Prime Minister and as Director of Cabinet Intelligence, and later became Secretary-General of the National Security Secretariat and Special Advisor to the Cabinet. He established the economic unit within the Secretariat and advanced Japan’s economic security policy. In December 2020, he received the U.S. Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service. After retiring from government service in July 2021, he was appointed as a member of the Expert Panel on Economic Security Legislation in November of the same year. He currently heads Kitamura Economic Security.
-
Takashi Ito
Deputy Executive Director
Former Corporate Executive, Senior General Manager,
Corporate Economic Security Division, Mitsubishi Electric Corporation -
Mr. Ito joined Mitsubishi Electric in 1986 and spent two decades engaged in business planning, operations, M&A, and industry restructuring in the semiconductor sector. He also led international dispute resolution efforts, including trade frictions, cartel litigation, and intellectual property
lawsuits. Following a secondment to Keidanren (Japan Business Federation), he shifted his focus to corporate management, serving in the Corporate Strategic Office on structural reforms and supporting Keidanren vice chiarman on policy matters. In 2020, he became the first head of a dedicated Economic Security Division established within a private corporation (appointed Corporate Executive in 2023).
He left Mitsubishi Electric in 2025 upon completion of his term as Corporate Executive and concurrently assumed his current role as Deputy Director of the Center. He also serves as advisor to several private companies and law firms, as well as to the Government of Japan.
-
Arata Kuno
Research Director
Professor of International Economics, Faculty of International Relations, Asia University -
Dr. Kuno specializes in international economics and Japan’s trade policy and economic security policy. Prior to assuming his current positions, he served as a Senior Economist at Mitsubishi UFJ Research and Consulting Co., Ltd. and was seconded to the Trade Policy Bureau of Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI). He received his B.A. and Ph.D. in Economics from Keio University.
His recent publications include Economic Security and Business: Risks and Practical Strategies for Firms (editor, Nikkei BP, 2026, in Japanese); “Law and Economics of Supply Chain Cooperation among Like-minded Countries: From the IPEF Crisis Response Network to the CPTPP” (Boueki to Kanzei, forthcoming, in Japanese); and “The Limits of Economic Sanctions: A Reassessment from an Economic Perspective,” in The Envelope of International Trade Studies(Keio University Press, 2025, in Japanese).
-
Jun Osawa
Research Director
Senior Fellow, Nakasone Peace Institute -
Specialties: International Security (Cyber Security and Strategic Assessment). He also serves as Executive Advisor, IT security Center, Information-Technology Promotion Agency (IPA) and as Senior Fellow at Sasakawa Peace Foundation. He previously served as Senior Fellow and Deputy Cabinet Counsellor of National Security Secretariat (NSS), Government of Japan, Research Fellow and Senior Research Fellow at IIPS, visiting fellow at Brookings Institution, visiting scholar at National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies. He received his B.A., Keio University M.A., in Political Science from Keio University.
OUR EXPERTS
-
Fujio TORIUMI
Senior Technology Advisor
Professor, Department of Systems Innovation, Graduate School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo
His research focuses on computational social science, a field that uses large-scale data analysis to understand social phenomena, as well as the application of AI technologies to social issues. He serves as Research Director of the ERATO “Toriumi Information Well-being Project.”
He was selected as a “Nice Step Researcher 2018” by Japan’s National Institute of Science and Technology Policy (NISTEP), and received the Academic Contribution Award from the Computational Social Science Society of Japan in 2026. His publications include Introduction to Computational Social Science and How to Face the Digital Space: Toward Information Health (both in Japanese).
-
Naoaki Hidani
Senior Fellow
Senior Fellow, Governance Architect Organization - Graduated from the Department of Political Science, Faculty of Law, Seikei University; completed the Master’s program in Security Studies at Takushoku University Graduate School; withdrew from the doctoral program in Security Studies at Takushoku University Graduate School after earning the required credits.
He has held positions including Researcher at the Institute for International Affairs of the World Political and Economic Research Association (a foundation) before assuming his current role. Since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, amid the rapid advancement of unmanned and networked battlefields, he has consistently published analyses and research—grounded in academic insights and practical perspectives—on how technological innovation is transforming tactics, operations, strategy, and the nature of warfare. He has delivered numerous lectures at the Ministry of Defense and the Japan Self-Defense Forces. His areas of expertise include the military use of digital civilian technologies such as drones and U.S. civil-military relations.
-
Klevis Sevrani
Visiting Fellow
Partner, Board Advisors Japan Inc. - Klevis Sevrani advises Japanese companies on corporate governance, including board effectiveness, non-executive director appointments, and CEO and senior executive succession. Before joining Board Advisors in 2021, he worked at Egon Zehnder’s Tokyo office, where he was involved in corporate governance advisory from the early stages of Japan’s governance reform. His current research focuses on the intersection of corporate governance and economic security, with particular emphasis on how geopolitical shifts affect corporate strategy, risk oversight, and the intelligence needed for business judgment. He has written extensively for leading Japanese legal, financial, and business publications. He holds an LL.B. from Tohoku University and a Master of Advanced International Studies (MAIS) from the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna. He is a native Japanese speaker and is fluent in English.
-
Emily S. Chen
Visiting Fellow
Project Assistant Professor, Institute for Future Initiatives, The University of Tokyo - Emily S. Chen is a Project Assistant Professor at the Institute for Future Initiatives, University of Tokyo (UTokyo). Her research focuses on how norms shape foreign policy behavior, with particular attention to Japanese foreign and security policy, middle power diplomacy, technology governance, and Indo-Pacific international relations. Prior to joining UTokyo, she held research positions at U.S. think tanks, including the Brookings Institution, CSIS, the Stimson Center, and Pacific Forum. She holds a Ph.D. from UTokyo, an M.A. from Stanford University, and a B.A. from National Chengchi University in Taiwan.
