SUISAN MIRAI 2025 Symposium

Tomokazu Kawabata
Advisor, National Federation of Young Fishermen’s Groups (Zen Gyoseiren) / Advisor, Kagoshima Prefectural Federation of Young Fishermen’s Groups / Director, Yamakawa Town Fisheries Cooperative
After graduating from high school in Kagoshima and university in Ibaraki, Kawabata worked at a uranium enrichment and reprocessing plant in Aomori Prefecture. He later took a job at a nuclear power plant within the Kyushu Electric Power service area, near his hometown, before leaving corporate life to take over his family’s fishing business. He now operates two set net fisheries in Yamakawa, Ibusuki City, Kagoshima Prefecture, and works as a professional diver engaged in vessel maintenance and seagrass restoration projects across the prefecture. Appointed Chair of the National Federation of Young Fishermen’s Groups in 2022, he has led environmental restoration efforts and given lectures nationwide. In 2024, upon completing his term, he assumed the role of Advisor.

Kota Ando
Research Officer, Sustainable Management Unit, Strategy Group, Corporate Design Department, Norinchukin Bank
Ando joined the Norinchukin Bank in April 2016, starting in corporate sales at the Sapporo Branch, serving forestry cooperatives and seafood processing companies. In January 2019, he moved to the Sendai Branch, where he worked on organizational restructuring and guidance for fisheries cooperatives in Miyagi Prefecture. Since April 2022 (in the current Corporate Design Department since April 2023), he has overseen the bank’s and its affiliates’ sustainability management, from setting organizational goals informed by global discussions to developing regional projects, including blue carbon initiatives, with a focus on both global and local perspectives.

Shozo Kesamaru
Director, National Federation of Young Fishermen’s Groups / Chinzei Branch, Saga Genkai Fisheries Cooperative
Immediately after graduating from high school, Kesamaru began working as a free-diving fisherman. In his early years, he dove almost daily outside the closed season, harvesting red sea urchins and abalone. Around 2000, he was quick to notice changes in local seagrass beds and began conservation activities such as removing herbivorous species—well before “barren ground” became a nationwide issue. Today, working with fellow members of the Saga Genkai Fisheries Cooperative Youth Division and other local fishers, he continues these activities while also giving lectures on seagrass conservation across Japan.

Toru Narazaki
Deputy Chief, Environmental Division, Karatsu City Government
After graduating from university, Narazaki worked in HR and corporate sales before joining Kawaguchi City Hall in Saitama Prefecture, where he was involved in the preparation and launch of the city’s public health center following its transition to core city status. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he moved to the Karatsu City Government in Saga Prefecture, where he now serves in the Environmental Division. His work focuses on decarbonization and nature-positive initiatives as part of the “Karatsu Model Regional Circulating and Ecological Sphere,” which integrates environmental, social, and economic sustainability.

Masaru Kinjo
Vice Chair, National Federation of Young Fishermen’s Groups / Advisor, Okinawa Prefecture Federation of Young Fishermen’s Groups / Director, Onna Village Fisheries Cooperative
Familiar with free-diving and marine sports from a young age, Kinjo became a diving instructor in 2004 while also working in mozuku seaweed aquaculture. In 2007, he became a full member of his local cooperative, focusing on mozuku farming in winter and marine leisure charter operations in summer. In 2017, he won the Governor’s Award at the 3rd Okinawa Youth and Women Fishers Exchange Conference for his project “Building a Village to be Proud of as a Mozuku Production Area” and received the Fisheries Agency Director-General’s Award at the 23rd national conference.

Kenichi Yoshie
Section Manager, Fisheries Division, 1st Product Department, Product Development Headquarters, Palsystem Consumers’ Co-operative Union
After graduating from university and working in sales for a food manufacturer, Yoshie joined Palsystem in 2006, initially seconded to Palsystem Tokyo to gain field experience in membership expansion. In 2007, he returned to the head office to work in product development for dry goods and seafood, a role he continues today. In 2024, he was recognized as a “Promoter of Fish Consumption” by the Japan Fisheries Association for his leadership in Palsystem’s “Let’s Eat Fish” campaign launched in April 2024.

Koichi Hoshi
Shellfish and Kelp Fisherman, Hoshi Fisheries / Co-Representative, Piroro Kikaku LLC / Chair, Youth Division, Hiroo Fisheries Cooperative
Based in Hiroo Town, Tokachi, Hokkaido, Hoshi is a third-generation fisher engaged in whelk and kelp harvesting. Inspired by a regional human resource development program he joined in 2013, he actively pursues cross-sector collaborations. In 2021, he co-founded a company to promote experiential tourism in primary industries, while also launching value-added processing from kelp byproducts. Through products like “Hoshikuzu Konbu” (Star-Dust Kelp), fishery tourism, university lectures, and corporate collaborations, he has expanded his activities and won the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Award at the 2023 National Youth and Women Fishers Exchange Conference.

Hiroyasu Yabuuchi
Hokkaido Branch, Hokkaido Products Promotion Unit, Mitsubishi Shokuhin Co., Ltd.
Yabuuchi began his career in 2005 at RJ Ogura, a Hokkaido-based confectionery wholesaler that later merged into Mitsubishi Shokuhin. After working in confectionery distribution and later as a buyer negotiating with manufacturers, he joined the newly established Regional Strategy Promotion Office in 2022 to work on regional revitalization projects. Since April 2024, he has been part of the Hokkaido Products Promotion Unit at the Hokkaido Branch, continuing his focus on regional development.

Hideki Noro
Director, Horiei Co., Ltd. / Director, Aomori Umiyama Co., Ltd.
While working as an Aomori Prefectural Government official, Noro founded an NPO to conduct trial distribution of seafood products. After leaving the government, he helped establish Aomori Umiyama, a seafood processing company, and became involved with its parent company, Horiei, which operates set net fisheries. There, he conducted research in response to newly imposed bluefin tuna catch limits, earning a Ph.D. based on his findings. He has also served as an executive at Japan Salmon Farm Co., Ltd. and Japan Fishery Support Co., Ltd.

Toshiharu Kubokawa
President, Kinjo Suisan Co., Ltd. / Auditor, Ishikawa Prefecture Set Net Fisheries Association / Area Representative, Kaga Branch, Ishikawa Prefectural Fisheries Cooperative
Originally from Tokyo with no fishing background, Kubokawa graduated in resource management from Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology. After working for 12 years as a cram school instructor, he relocated to Ishikawa Prefecture to work in the fishing industry. He is now president of Kinjo Suisan, which operates large-scale set net fisheries, and holds leadership roles in several fisheries organizations. He also serves on government committees on fisheries work reform and resource management and collaborates with researchers at Iwate and Kyoto Universities.

Toichiro Ikeshita
President, Ikeshita Sangyo Co., Ltd.

A former aspiring professional soccer player, Ikeshita returned to his hometown of Hiroo, Hokkaido, after graduating from university to join his family’s seafood processing business. Ikeshita Sangyo produces fish meal and fish oil from locally landed catches, supplies aquaculture feed through trading companies, and markets frozen fish products under the “RevoFish” brand to retailers, restaurants, and consumers. In recent years, the company has also expanded into supplying sardine-derived ingredients for pharmaceuticals.

Yuta Ozaki
Vice Chair, National Federation of Young Fishermen’s Groups / Chair, Hokkaido Federation of Young Fishermen’s Groups / Chair, Youth Division, Monbetsu Fisheries Cooperative
Born into a fishing family, Ozaki graduated from a fisheries high school in Otaru, Hokkaido, before joining the family business in Monbetsu, where he operates fixed-gear crab, longline, and set net fisheries. Active in local revitalization through port cleanups and community events, he now serves as Vice Chair of the National Federation of Young Fishermen’s Groups, delivering lectures and guest classes nationwide to promote understanding of fisheries.

Taiki Takeuchi
Vice Chair, National Federation of Young Fishermen’s Groups / Chair, Ishikawa Prefecture Federation of Young Fishermen’s Groups / Chair, Nanao Branch, Ishikawa Prefectural Fisheries Cooperative
After high school, Takeuchi worked for a large set net company before returning to his hometown to join his grandfather’s small-scale bottom trawl business. In 2020, he established a seafood processing company, Daisei Co., Ltd. In 2022, he became Chair of the Nanao Branch of the Ishikawa Prefectural Fisheries Cooperative and was elected Vice Chair of the national federation. Following the 2024 Noto Peninsula earthquake, which made bottom trawling difficult, he has been transitioning to single-seed oyster farming.

Seiji Abe
Chair, National Federation of Young Fishermen’s Groups / Advisor, Youth Division, Miyagi Prefecture Fisheries Cooperative / Executive Member, Tanigawa Branch Youth Division, Miyagi Prefecture Fisheries Cooperative
After graduating from high school in Miyagi Prefecture, Abe took over his family’s fishing business in Ishinomaki, where he engages in both boat fishing and aquaculture. In recent years, he has begun oyster farming to complement struggling sea squirt aquaculture. As Chair of the national federation, he leads youth divisions nationwide, building on his predecessor’s “Protect the Ocean” initiative while pursuing new approaches to address changing marine environments.