Harvard Club of Japan Ben Makihara Memorial Lecture Series
GLOBAL BUSINESS LEADER, MINORU "BEN" MAKIHARA:
A DAUGHTER`S VIEW OF THE MAN WHO WAS SHAPED BY BRITAIN AND THE UNITED STATES, AND TOOK THE HELM AT MITSUBISHI CORPORATION
- A Talk by Kumiko Makihara-
The Harvard Club of Japan is pleased to announce our second Ben Makihara Memorial Lecture, presenting a talk by Ms. Kumiko Makihara, the daughter of Ben Makihara.
The event will be moderated by Tsunehiko (Tsuney) Yanagihara, Partner of Allegis Capital, and former Executive Officer of Mitsubishi Corporation.
Talk overview:
Ben Makihara`s accomplishments as a superb global business leader have been well known and documented. But very little has been spoken about his personal side. Kumiko Makihara will share with us the daughter`s view of what her father really was like.
After her talk, Kumiko will open the floor for a Q&A session.
Seating is limited to 60 persons, on a first-come, first-served basis, so make sure to register early!
Please register for the event using the reservation function below.
***Note that cancellations after noon on Friday, May 9th and no-shows will be charged the full participation fee, as we are committing to the venue on a per-person basis. By registering for this event, you are agreeing to comply with this policy. Your understanding of and compliance with this policy are greatly appreciated!
Date: Tuesday, May 20th
Time: Door Open: 18:30 / Talk Start: 19:00 / Reception 20:00 – 21:00
Venue: Mitsubishi Club
Address: Mitsubishi Shoji Building, 2-3-1 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo (The Elevator to Mitsubishi Club is located at the right of Reception Desk)
Participation fee: 10,000 JPY per person, to be paid IN CASH at the door
(covers event participation and standing buffet and free-flow beverages)
PLEASE NOTE THAT THE EVENT RECEPTION WILL ONLY ACCEPT CASH:
CREDIT CARDS AND E-PAYMENTS ARE NOT ACCEPTED
Mitsubishi Club is a members-only club made available to us by special arrangement with a member.
Please do not contact Mitsubishi Club or engage with their staff directly for any reason.
Pre-event enquiries should be directed to HCJ Events organizer Tsuney Yanagihara at the email below,
or to the HCJ staff present at the event.
Dress code: Business casual - Collared shirts, no shorts or sandals.
Child policy: Children of middle school and above only.
For any problems registering or other enquires please e-mail: tsuney@allegiscapital.com
Where:
Mitsubishi Club
Mitsubishi Shoji Building 2-3-1 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku
Tokyo, Japan
[ Get Directions ]
RSVP Here...
Kumiko Makihara Profile:
Kumiko Makihara writes about contemporary life in Japan, particularly in comparison with the United States. She is the author of Dear Diary Boy (Arcade, 2018), a memoir about sending her son to a Japanese school. Her articles have appeared in the International Herald Tribune, the New York Times Magazine and Newsweek, as well as in the books Reimagining Japan: The Quest for a Future That Works (Shogakukan, 2011) and Tsunami: Japan’s Post Fukushima Future (Foreign Policy Magazine, 2011).
Ms. Makihara was previously a reporter for Time Magazine and the Associated Press and a features editor at the Moscow Times.
She received a BA in Languages from International Christian University (1980) in Tokyo and an MA in American Studies from the University of Hawaii (1983) on an East West Center grant. She grew up in Tokyo, London and Washington D.C., and has also lived in Berlin, Moscow and Beijing.
Ms. Makihara was previously a reporter for Time Magazine and the Associated Press and a features editor at the Moscow Times.
She received a BA in Languages from International Christian University (1980) in Tokyo and an MA in American Studies from the University of Hawaii (1983) on an East West Center grant. She grew up in Tokyo, London and Washington D.C., and has also lived in Berlin, Moscow and Beijing.
Tsuney Yanagihara Profile:
Tsunehiko (Tsuney) Yanagihara is currently Partner of Allegis Capital, a venture capital firm in Silicon Valley.
Allegis Capital invests in early stage startups in the US and Japan. Allegis Capital`s investment themes are enterprise software, fintech, cybersecurity and climatetech.
Tsuney is formerly Executive Officer of Mitsubishi Corporation, Tokyo, Japan and Executive Vice President at Mitsubishi Corporation (Americas) working in Palo Alto, California. He has extensive international business experience, having spent 39 years in business management positions within Mitsubishi Corporation.
Tsuney holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BA from Amherst College in Massachusetts. He has kept strong ties with Harvard Business School. Most recently, Tsuney has helped HBS prepare a case study on his Silicon Valley experience titled “M-Lab: Enabling Innovation at Mitsubishi Corporation” with Professor Krishna Palepu.
About The Harvard Club of Japan Ben Makihara Memorial Lecture Series
The Ben Makihara Memorial Lecture Series is a periodic lecture series held by the Harvard Club of Japan to honor the legacy of Mr. Minoru “Ben” Makihara.Ben Makihara pioneered and served as a leader of ties between Japan and Harvard against a backdrop of Japan’s rise as an economic power after WWII and the transformation of the US-Japan relationship from one of bitter enemies to a close friendship and alliance.
A hard-working student with a talent for English, Minoru’s success during his high school years in Tokyo in winning the MacArthur English speech contest were among the factors that fueled his dream to study in the United States, and boosted his confidence to aim for what he called “the top level”: Harvard University. He consulted with Kenneth Viall, a Harvard-educated priest at the Episcopal Church in Tokyo, which had been allotted by the US Occupation authorities some land on the Iwasaki estate, where Makihara lived with his mother. Viall was at first concerned that the distance between Harvard and Minoru in geography and culture would be too great to bridge. But taken with the student’s determination and passion, Viall helped arrange for Minoru to get a full scholarship for a year at St Paul’s prep school in New Hampshire as a launching point to apply to Harvard.
At St. Paul’s Minoru acquired the skills and visibility he needed to get into Harvard, as well as the nickname Ben. He also made such an impression on St. Paul’s that a program was formalized to encourage top Japanese students to apply there.
At Harvard, Ben chose to major in Government. His undergraduate thesis, “Social Values in Capitalist Development: A Case Study of Japan”, explored Japan’s growth after the Meiji Restoration. After his graduation magna cum laude in 1954, Ben stayed abroad one more year on a Sheldon Fellowship before returning to Japan.
Ben joined Mitsubishi in 1956 and subsequently served as General Manager of the Washington Office of Mitsubishi International Corporation, U.S.A. (1971), President of Mitsubishi International Corporation (1987), and President and CEO of Mitsubishi Corporation (1992). In 1998 he was named Chairman, a position he held for six years.
In 1993 Ben Makihara joined the Committee on University Resources (COUR), a lifetime membership organization of major donors to Harvard. He was Chair of the Harvard Japan Campaign, helping raise significant funds for the Asian Center at 1730 Cambridge Street, and a plaque there acknowledges Ben’s efforts. In 1999 Ben joined the Asia Center Advisory Committee and served until 2018.
Ben also served for many years on the Visiting Committee of the East Asian Studies Department, and as an Advisor on the Advisory Committee to the HBS Global Research Center. Partly through Ben’s efforts, a center in Japan was subsequently founded and remains active today. An active contributor to the activities of the Harvard Club of Japan, Ben mostly worked behind-the-scenes, though at various times he served as a Governor or in an official advisory capacity to the club.
Minoru Ben Makihara received the Harvard Medal in 2004, his 50th reunion year.
Among the many noteworthy activities contributing to the US-Japan relationship outside of his Harvard roles are his service as US-Japan Business Council Chair from 1997-2002 and Chair of the US Japan Conference on Cultural and Education Exchange (CULCON) from 2008-2014.
As a formative presence in The Harvard Club of Japan community for many decades, Ben’s character and efforts helped directly shape the arc of the relationship between the United States and Japan, and between Japan and Harvard.
The Ben Makihara Memorial Lecture commemorates this extraordinary service, which sets an example for us all.