Session ⁄ Event

Regional Forum Area Session

Panelists

• 
  Advisor

  President of Mayohiga Planning, Regional Revitalization Company / Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications Regional Power Creation Advisor

  Kohei Sato

  Born in 1984 in Fukushima Prefecture, Kohei Sato holds a graduate degree from the School of Design and Engineering at Tohoku University of Art and Technology.
  In 2010, Sato joined the second-ever batch of Regional Revitalization Cooperation Team members and became the Information and Exchange Advisor for Asahi Town in Yamagata Prefecture. He initiated the town's promotional activities using the rabbit mascot character "Momoiro Usahi" as a practical implementation of one of his regional development research areas, focusing on "community development facilitated through non-personalized mascots."
  Even after completing his tenure as a Regional Revitalization Team member, he established the regional revitalization support company "Mayohiga Planning" in Asahi. He has been actively promoting community development projects using experimental approaches in various fields such as the launch of the Matsumoto-Tei Guest House, hometown tax project, and community-based school education.

• 
  Panelist

  Asahi Town Regional Revitalization Cooperation Team

  Lin Yichen

  Born in 1989 in Taichung City, Taiwan, Lin Yichen majored in Web Design at Ling Tung University. With a deep interest in Japanese culture and language through Japanese mythology and history, she visited Japan multiple times before moving to Asahi. Drawing from her experiences, she worked for a Taiwanese travel company, touring various tourist destinations in Japan - noticing that many tourist destinations offered similar tours, and the unique charms of each region seemed to go unnoticed by the local residents. Wanting to transform the appeal she felt for local regions into viable tourism products, she decided to apply for the position of Inbound Promotion Officer in Asahi Town.
  Currently, Lin serves as the Inbound Promotion Officer for Asahi Town, where she researches the town's tourism resources and disseminates information through blogs, Facebook, and the town website. She also utilizes her skills in social media to create opportunities for exchanges with Taiwan and other international communities.

• 
  Panelist

  Yamagata Asahi Town Wine

  Yu Nagaoka

  Born in 1994 in Asahi Town, Yamagata Prefecture, Yu Nagaoka graduated from Yamamoto Gakuen High School and later earned a degree in Business Law from Ibaraki Prefectural University of Commerce.
  After his studies, Nagaoka joined local company Asahi Town Wine, where he became involved in grape cultivation and winemaking. In his private life, he is a member of the community organization "Bakkira," which is dedicated to creating fun local activities for adults and enlivening community events. He also coaches children's kendo as part of the Asahi Town Miyajuku Kendo Sports Youth Group.

• 
  Panelist

  Artist

  Hawker9

  Hawker9 was born in Yamagata City in 1996 and graduated from Yamagata Prefectural Yamagata Technical High School. He debuted at the age of 18 and is a talented singer who has gained support from a wide range of people, young and old, with his new pop music style that fuses Reggae and R&B. In April 2023, "FIRST NIGHT" was selected as the ending song for Sakuranbo TV's "Yamagata Choice". On top of being a singer, using his experience studying abroad in New York, he is also an English conversation teacher. Some of his notable works include: "La France", "Snow Monster" (No. 1 on iTunes Reggae Charts in Japan & Taiwan), and "I Don't Want to Lose" (No. 1 on iTunes Reggae Charts).

• 
  Panelist

  Designer

  Halube

  Born in January 1995 in Yamagata City, Yamagata Prefecture, Haruka Kumagai is a native of the prefecture and has attended her entire education here from kindergarten through university. In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, she focused her efforts on promoting the appeal of Yamagata, and has been active on social media, mainly Instagram and YouTube, to promote the prefecture using her experience from her main job as a designer and creator. In the winter, she works as a sports ambassador for Zao Onsen Ski Resort, showing the appeal of Yamagata in winter to the world.

• Panelist

  Yamashin Travel Director of Inbound Promotion

  Sarah Dean

Facilitator Ken Miura Brand new day Co., Ltd. Representative ⁄ Branding Producer

Born in Yamagata in 1993, after graduating from Nihon University Yamagata Senior High School, Ken Miura studied abroad at the University of Washington in the United States. After consulting for sole proprietors, he ended up working in brand strategy consultation development for corporations. Currently, he mainly works on helping small and medium-sized enterprises formulate their missions and visions in order to discover and verbalize their unique values. His services cover a wide variety of fields including websites, advertisements, new business development, and recruitment,all of which lead back to him providing a total brand strategy that instills a strong internal company philosophy reflecting their values as companies.

Host Naoko Inoue

Born December 28, 1974, in Yonezawa City, Yamagata Prefecture, and raised in Kawanishi, Naoko Inoue is currently a proud resident of Nagai City. During her time as a student at Kunori Gakuen Girl's High School in Yonezawa, she transferred to Glendora High School in California, USA in 1991 before going on to study at California's very own Citrus College. In 1998, she returned to Japan after experiencing working at a travel agency in LA and trying her hand at the media talent industry.
Naoko has worn many hats over the years: Radio DJ, commercial narrator, lounge DJ, bilingual English and Japanese event MC, a TV reporter for YBC Yamagata Broadcasting, TUY, and SAY Sakurambo TV, magazine model (Bi Story), interpreter, and to top it all off, she is currently active as a preschool English teacher as well as performing as one of the Yamagata Maiko. In addition, she is one of the instructors of the Yamagata Prefectural Board of Education's "Learn from Professionals" program.