JAPAN CURRENTS 2020

PRESENTERS

Since he joined IEEJ in 1986, Dr. Ken Koyama has held many senior positions in IEEJ, including Senior Research Fellow at the Energy Strategy Unit, general manager of Energy Strategy Department, and an honorary associate, Centre for Energy, Petroleum and Mineral Law & Policy, University of Dundee.

Currently, Dr. Koyama is the Managing Director and Chief Economist at the Institute of Energy Economics, Japan (IEEJ).  He also serves as a Visiting Professor at the Graduate School of Public Policy, University of Tokyo and as an Adjunct Professor at the Institute of Innovative Research, Tokyo Institute of Technology. 

Dr. Koyama is known for his expertise in energy security issues and the geopolitics of energy. His research in the area of energy economics and the world oil and gas market has been published extensively in national and international journals and books. Dr. Koyama has also been featured in numerous broadcasts on BBC, NPR and others.

He has served as a member of energy policy related advisory councils and committees of Japanese government on numerous occasions. Most recently, Dr. Koyama was appointed as a Director of Japan Electric Power Exchange (JEPX).  He also serves on the International Advisory Board of the Energy Academy of Europe (Netherlands) and is an International Advisor (Chair in Energy Economics) at the Energy Commission of Tenaga Nasional University (Malaysia). 

He was awarded the BrandLaureate’s “Brand Personality Award 2016.”

Dr. Koyama obtained his Ph.D. from the University of Dundee, Scotland, and his BA and MA from the Waseda University, Japan.

Bob Takai currently heads Sumitomo Corporation of Americas’ (SCOA) Washington, D.C., office, which is responsible for research, policy analysis, and government affairs.
Prior to arriving in Washington, D.C., in April 2018, Bob served in multiple leadership roles with Sumitomo Corporation.

Immediately prior to his arrival in Washington, Bob was Executive Officer of Sumitomo Corporation and President and CEO of Sumitomo Corporation Global Research Co. Ltd., which is responsible for Sumitomo's business intelligence and economic/political research activities.

In 2011, he was appointed to head Sumitomo's Energy Division, where he was responsible for oil and gas trading and upstream investment. Prior to that position, he was assigned to head the newly created foreign exchange and commodity derivatives department within the Treasury Division. There, he expanded his career in financial markets, eventually becoming the corporate officer in charge of the Financial Business Division, with responsibilities for derivatives trading, private equity investment, asset management, and aircraft leasing business.

In 1988, Bob was transferred to Sumitomo’s London Office and expanded his trading sphere in metals, where he gained extensive experience and built global network. In 1993, he was the first non-British board member elected to the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA), and he still maintains close working relationships with the global bullion community.

He is a regular contributor to the Nikkei Newspaper, Weekly Nikkei Veritas, Toyo Keizai and Economist magazines. In addition, he made regular appearances in “Morning Satellite” on TV Tokyo and “Market Analyze Plus” on BS12 while he was based in Tokyo.

Bob joined Sumitomo Corporation in 1980 and began his career in the Non-Ferrous Metals Division, trading precious metals. Bob graduated from Kobe University with a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration.

Seijiro Tamada joined Osaka Gas Co., Ltd. in 2014 as the Manager of the Freeport Project Team. He now serves as Senior Vice President of the Freeport Project for Osaka Gas USA corporation. In is current role, Seijiro manages Osaka Gas’ investment in Freeport LNG project and manages offtake from the Freeport LNG project, including nautral gas/commodity procurement, liquefaction and exportation.

Seijiro holds a Bachelor of Law degree from the University of Tokyo and a Master of Business Administration from Georgetown University.