Directors

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  Board Director and CEO

  Yosuke Maeda

  Born in Tokushima, Japan. Maeda graduated from the University of Tokyo, Department of Architecture, Faculty of Engineering. He also complated the Master's Program in Architecture, Graduate School of Engineering, at the University of Tokyo. He began researching biology and chemistry in elementary school, and his interest in water issues in junior high school led him to conduct research on water treatment in high school. He studied urban infrastructure and the living environment of slums in developing countries at university, and housing facilities (water supply, drainage, and sanitation) at graduate school. While in school, he worked on sensor and control development at the world-renowned digital art collective teamLab, among others. He later started his own business and sold the business. He received The University of Tokyo President's Award for Students, the GOOD DESIGN GRAND AWARD from Japan Institute of Design Promotion, and others. As CEO of WOTA, he aims to provide structural solutions to water problems.

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  External Board Director

  Taizo Son

  A serial entrepreneur and a start-up investor. He has been a part of the internet business since his university years. In 2009, he started to invest in and support the growth of start-up companies to "create a system for start-ups that can be considered the Asian version of Silicon Valley." In 2013, in addition to the start-up support beyond investment, he established Mistletoe, a community run by volunteers, to solve worldwide problems that humanity will face in the future. His mission is to support the growth of a start-up company that can have a significant impact on society.

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  External Board Director

  Yuki Takemori

  After graduating from the University of Tsukuba Third Cluster of Colleges (now known as the School of Science and Engineering), he started working at Japan Development Bank (now known as Development Bank of Japan Inc.) in 1995. After working as the head of the Aerospace Office, he is now the head and the general manager of the Innovation Center. He has invested in and supported the growth of manufacturing start-up companies needing large-scale development funds. He has supported many companies, including SPACE ONE CO., LTD., SkyDrive Inc., Espace Inc., etc. A council member for international space investigation at the International Space Station and a fellow of the Japan Science and Technology Agency Center for Research and Development Strategy.

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  External Board Director

  Yoshihiko Yamada

  After graduating from Keio University, Faculty of Economics, Yamada entered the electronics manufacturer Panasonic Corporation in 1974. In June 2004, he became the chair of Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. in the U.S. In June 2014, he became the vice president of Panasonic Corporation. Later in 2017, he became the vice president of Tesla, Inc. Gigafactory. He is the outside director of Gogoro Inc., which develops and sells electric motorcycles in Taiwan and supports domestic and international technology companies.

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Leadership

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  Board Director and CEO

  Yosuke Maeda

  Born in Tokushima, Japan. Maeda graduated from the University of Tokyo, Department of Architecture, Faculty of Engineering. He also complated the Master's Program in Architecture, Graduate School of Engineering, at the University of Tokyo. He began researching biology and chemistry in elementary school, and his interest in water issues in junior high school led him to conduct research on water treatment in high school. He studied urban infrastructure and the living environment of slums in developing countries at university, and housing facilities (water supply, drainage, and sanitation) at graduate school. While in school, he worked on sensor and control development at the world-renowned digital art collective teamLab, among others. He later started his own business and sold the business. He received The University of Tokyo President's Award for Students, the GOOD DESIGN GRAND AWARD from Japan Institute of Design Promotion, and others. As CEO of WOTA, he aims to provide structural solutions to water problems.

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  Chief Researcher

  Shohei Okudera

  Born in Chiba, Japan, Okudera graduated from the Tokyo Institute of Technology, Department of Information Science, Faculty of Science. He also completed the Master's Program in Information & Communication Engineering Graduate School of Information Science and Technology at the University of Tokyo. At university, he studied distributed data management systems and distributed processing infrastructure construction technology for big data at graduate school. After that, he worked on large-scale system design at a system integrator company, Hitachi Solutions, Ltd. At WOTA, he experienced all technical areas of water treatment, software, hardware, etc., and now mainly heads up the development of new technologies.

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  Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer

  Masahiro Takagi

  Born in Tokyo, Japan. Takagi graduated from Meiji University, School of Political Science and Economics. He joined Fuji Bank (now Mizuho Bank), where he was responsible for loans to small and medium-sized companies at the Shibuya and Toranomon branches. He was also involved in planning at HQ. After that, he worked in corporate acquisition as an investment manager for the management buyout fund at subsidiary Mizuho Capital Partners. He later made IPO preparations as a director and CFO of a start-up company before establishing an investment company to support start-ups. At WOTA, he mainly oversees fundraising.

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  Executive Officer and VP, External Relations

  Hiroki Ochi

  Born in Hiroshima, Japan. Ochi graduated from Keio University, Faculty of Economics. His family runs a restaurant business. At Dentsu Inc., an advertising agency, he worked as a media planner, setting up several first-of-its-kind media projects in Japan before managing a team for a beverage brand. Later, he established a model to work with management over a long period of time and launched an organization specializing in startups. As the leader of a brand team building corporate growth stories, he provided IPOs support and facilitated business alliances between large companies and startups. At WOTA, he oversees sales, external relations, and PR.

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  Executive Officer and VP, Engineering

  Takashi Kawakami

  Born in Kanagawa, Japan. Kawakami graduated from the University of Tokyo, Faculty of Engineering, with a bachelor's degree in marine mechanical engineering and a master's degree in mechanical engineering. At the electronics manufacturer Sony Corporation, he was in charge of key device development for the MiniDisc Walkman, application software development for Xperia, key device development for cameras and other products, and smart product and AIBO development. In addition, he chaired the group-wide AI working group. At WOTA, he is in charge of product architecture and related fields.

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  Executive Officer and VP, Business & Affairs

  Takeshi Denda

  Born in Nagano, Japan. Denda graduated from Kyushu Institute of Technology with a degree in Information Science. He worked in product development as a software engineer at Ricoh Company, Ltd., an electronics manufacturer. He later moved to the Corporate Planning Division, where he was continually involved in new business development. He commercialized various new businesses, including the world's first compact 360-degree camera, RICOH THETA. His experience includes market and partner development and M&A in the U.S. and Europe, as well as post-merger integration operations. At WOTA, he oversees business development.

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  Executive Officer and VP, Corporate

  Norikazu Minemura

  Born in Fukushima, Japan. Minemura graduated from the Faculty of Law at the University of Tokyo and completed the master’s program in the Graduate School of Finance, Accounting, and Law at Waseda University. He became interested in water issues through the water quality analysis of the Abukuma River during his junior high school. After entering IHI Corporation, a heavy-industry manufacturer, he was engaged in overall personnel and human resources management as well as occupational health and safety management at factories and construction sites. He offered support to solve issues relating to organizations and human resources at GLOBIS. Later, he managed business development at multiple startups, such as an e-commerce fraud detection system. At WOTA, after being in charge of operations, he now oversees business management.

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  Executive Officer and VP, Innovation

  Hodaka Mukohara

  Born in Kanagawa, Japan. Mukohara graduated from Nihon University, College of Engineering, Department of Mechanical Engineering. From 2003 to 2017, he worked at Honda Motor Co., Ltd., a transportation equipment manufacturer, and was the project leader designing motorcycle engines and engines for racing. He has won world champion in many races such as Motocross and MotoGP, designed many engines including a single-cylinder engine, V2, L4, and V4, and has over 50 patents. In Kenya, he launched "Bodaco," a Rent to Own service in 2018, and contributed to the commercialization of the business planning department. Later, he became in charge of new business development and worked on collaboration projects related to EV. At WOTA, he oversees the development of core devices.

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  Executive Officer and VP, Incubation

  Ryo Yamada

  Born in Osaka, Japan. Yamada completed the master's program in Sustainability Studies Graduate School of Frontier Sciences at the University of Tokyo. He spent his elementary school years in Silicon Valley and became interested in water problems during middle school. He studied environmental engineering (water treatment) and sustainability studies (including research in Southeast Asia and Africa). After finishing graduate studies, Yamada worked on supporting social entrepreneurs in Japan and abroad at the non-profit organization ETIC. After working on component procurement and development at WOTA, he is currently in charge of overseas market development.

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  Executive Officer and VP, Product

  Kanta Yamamoto

  Born in Tokyo, Japan. Yamamoto studied mechanical engineering at Waseda University. He also completed the Master's Program in Environment and Energy Engineering,Graduate School of Creative Science and Engineering at Waseda University. After graduation, he was continuously involved in motorcycle development at Honda R&D (research and development of transportation equipment) and Honda Motor Co. (transportation equipment manufacturer). He worked as a project leader for scooters and cub-style motorcycle models, as well as early development of advanced EV models. In 2016, he became the youngest person in charge of the global model development of medium and large motorcycles. In 2020, he launched Honda’s first medium-sized motorcycle in India, the HinessCB350, and the following year, the GB350 in Japan. Developing product concepts based on business requirements, Yamamoto can lead the entire product development and launch process from planning, design, purchasing, production, and sales. At WOTA, he is in charge of product development.

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  Executive Officer and VP, Strategy

  Won Lee

  Born in Korea. Lee graduated from Keio University, Faculty of Business and Commerce. He was born and raised in a mountainous, natural environment with no water supply infrastructure. He majored in computer engineering at a university in Korea. For the past 10 years since he came to Japan, he has worked as a marketing and data science specialist at consulting firms and advertising agencies, helping various clients solve their problems. At WOTA, he was in charge of marketing before his current role in charge of business strategy.

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  Professional Officer, Disaster Prevention and Off-Grid Specialist

  Ken Kasai

  Born in Iwate, Japan. After graduating from the University of Tsukuba Third Cluster of Colleges (now known as the School of Science and Engineering), Kasai entered Sun Microsystems, Inc. in 1998. He was involved in designing large-scale systems based on UNIX. Since 2003, he has engaged in the gas utility business in industry, public welfare, and medicine at Hokuryo Co.,Ltd. During the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011, he led the support of medical facilities and patients receiving home medical care affected by the disaster. He worked on developing cars, power supplies, and systems for disaster relief. He has been collaborating with WOTA since 2017 to take part in disaster relief and make developments in the off-grid field.

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