Bain & Company is continuing to make bold moves to invest in the Japan market. At the beginning of 2022, the firm announced global veteran Dave Michels as the new Japan Representative, part of its multi-year effort to direct the firm’s best talent and resources to the growing Japanese market. “This is part of a series of investments we are making into Japan, reflecting its global importance and the increasing number of priority client relationships we have in the market”, says Michels.

Today, the firm have announced their next move. Shintaro Okuno, former Japan Representative, will take on the role of Chairman for Bain Japan, with a mission to increase Bain’s external presence in the Japanese business community. This will include, among other things, building an ecosystem of partners with whom Bain can collaborate to bring the latest cutting-edge capabilities to their clients. “We are already increasing the number of executive forums we host and are more and more engaged in both not-for-profit and for-profit associations in the community”, says Okuno. 

Both Michels and Okuno are bullish about the opportunity for Bain to play a greater role in helping Japan unlock its full potential. “We are a mission-driven organization”, says Michels, “and our mission in Japan is to support change-oriented leaders who want to make a lasting difference in their organizations and in the community at large. We believe there is tremendous opportunity in Japan and are here to help our clients reach what we call their ‘full potential’.”

“We are honored to have Okuno-san play the Chairman role for us in Japan”, says Bain global CEO Manny Maceda.  “For us, the Chairman role is about engaging externally in the market to forge relationships and build bridges in the community. It is a very active role, and one that we use in several other markets across the globe. Given his skill set and depth of leadership experience, Okuno-san is the perfect fit for this role. Japan is an important strategic market for us. We have never before had such a deep and diverse team of talent in Japan, and we look forward to continuing to grow that, all in service of being able to better support our clients.”

“I have never before been so busy serving our priority clients,” says Okuno, “and now taking on this important role to lead Bain’s external engagement strategy with the Japanese business community. It’s a very exciting time for Bain in Japan, and for me personally as well.”