Norihiko Hirose established International Interface in 2000 and International Interface (U.S.) in 2003. As an international business consultant, he has played a central role in numerous strategic investment partnerships, technological surveys, and matters of marketing, business, and communications between Japanese and American firms.
 
Before becoming an independent consultant, Mr. Hirose was active in a wide range of roles at NTT and NTT Docomo, as a systems engineer and variously in the capacities of corporate planning, product planning, business startups, marketing, advertising, M&A, investment partner management, and overseas venture investment. He was a part of the early planning team for i-mode, Japan's mobile web platform, and was active in the international standardization of the Internet in terms of specifications and W3C standards.

Mr. Hirose has spent over 10 years in the U.S. and been a frequent guest speaker for leading American universities, companies, information and telecommunications industry associations, and venture capital organizations, including Stanford University, UC Berkeley, UCLA, UC San Diego, Intel, ITAA, Accel Partners, and Doll Capital.

Naveed Khan served as President of Siemens Venture Capital where he oversaw operations from investments to business development prior to joining International Interface (U.S.) in 2003.

Bringing his widespread connections in venture companies and venture capital and his extensive experience as an external corporate director to the company, Mr. Khan supervises consulting services centered on Silicon Valley.

Joy Au was engaged in sales planning at an OA equipment distributor in Hong Kong, contributing to their growth across the Asia pacific region. After acquiring an MBA in UK, she led a sales strategy team for Asia region of a UK based semiconductor distributor located in Hong Kong. She is fluent in Japanese having lived in Japan and worked in Japan’s consumer products industry for the past 10 years. She has experience of developing marketing strategy for companies, organizing various marketing activities including market research, event planning and digital marketing etc.

She speaks Japanese, English, and Chinese (Mandarin and Cantonese).

YKenichi Ogita acted as a core of all processes from securing to developing and allocating human resources according to the company's business strategy at the HR department of JNC. At the same time, he planned and organized company briefings and training programs as a leader, and successfully led these projects with his extraordinary coordination skills. He is an HR specialist who led multiple projects while contributing to the strengthening of relationships with internal and external parties.

Yasutaka Nagai has specialized in new business development and marketing for over 10 years. After working in sales and quality process management at a cold forging parts manufacturer where he assumed responsibility for international services in charge of negotiations with various companies overseas, he later became engaged in developing new customers, project management, and services related to customer satisfaction at a listed company in communications, before joining International Interface.

Mr. Nagai has extensive knowledge of multicultural environments owing to his many years of  experience and residence in Brazil and other countries overseas.

Nianci Zhang was in charge of covering political and financial news at the national television station of China as well as editing a program with over 20 million viewers. After that, she was in charge of establishing Beijing branch for a software company in the US. Before arriving in Japan she helped establish a Chinese startup and was responsible for hiring activities. Using six years’ worth of knowledge in international cultures, she conducted a research on cutting-edge technology in Japanese, English and Chinese in engineering division of Mitsubishi Chemical, and was responsible for new product development and strategy planning.

Yusuke Ebihara was engaged in corporate sales of hydraulic control equipment at a precision equipment manufacturer. He contributed to the strengthening of relationships with existing customers with his great hospitality and ability to provide proposals from the customer first perspective. In order to prepare himself for more business activities, he then studied business translation and gained abundant knowledge on international communication.

After obtaining a master’s/doctor’s degree from a Japanese university, she joined the R&D and Intellectual Property divisions of Nissan (China) Investment Co., Ltd. She took charge of wide varieties of works in the fields of legal affairs and patents including filing of patent and trademark applications in China, research on trademarks and intellectual property, as well as detection of forged products. She pursued her responsibilities with her high communication skills in Chinese, Japanese and English, and by collaborating with various stake holders such as offices all over the world, the Chinese government, suppliers, attorney offices and academic institutions. At International Interface, Fan Yang takes charge of real estate brokerage for non-Japanese citizens in the real estate intermediary and consulting business.

Having lived ten years in three culturally distinct countries―Germany, the U.S., and Turkey―with experience in translation and interpretation in each, Keiko Takeuchi has a deep understanding of the lifestyle, culture, and business custom differences between Japan and other countries, and is uniquely qualified in bridging the gaps. Over her nine-year career with a major Japanese film production company, she developed an interest in real estate, engaged in and transitioning to the real estate management business and acquiring certification as a registered real estate broker. 

Using her rich international experience and business knowledge, she takes charge of clients in Europe and Japan as a consultant for international businesses.

Ms. Takeuchi currently resides in Düsseldorf, Germany.

She is fluent in English, and can also speak German.