Born in Tokyo, Japan in 1975 and moved to England at age 12 on his own.
After graduating from European Business School, Michi returned to Japan in 2000. Working at TBWA, Fallon, and then Wieden + Kennedy, Michi was in charge of producing global brands, including Adidas Japan, Dyson Japan, Volkswagen Japan, Cartier Japan, and Nike Japan.
In 2008 he joined Levi Strauss Japan as the Marketing Director and in 2011 was appointed as the Director of Global Design & Merchandising of Levi Strauss Co.
In Nov 2013, he founded Kitchen & Company with the vision of better communicating the unseen qualities of Japan through brand building.

Born in France and graduated from college in Japan. Hugo spent 12 years at Cartier, both in Tokyo and NY. Before joining K&C in 2021, Hugo was the head of Strategic Planning for Cartier North America, team leading the overall strategic effort from a business and marketing perspective.

His dream is to give back what he has been given throughout the years – to foster global conversations, to faciliate exchanges among cultures and people, and to celebrate the passionate individuals who strive to make the world a better place through their craft, art, work, passion, and commitment.

Born in New York and raised in Tokyo. After graduating from Colby College, she joined Wunderman Thompson, a WPP creative agency, as a strategist, working with a wide range of brands and sectors from FMCG to B2B.
Joining K&C in 2023 as a Senior Strategist, she works on branding strategy and customer experience (CX), with the goal of creating more meaningful and human moments between brands and consumers.

Rina started her career in advertising after graduating from college in the US. She worked with agencies including McCann Erickson and Wieden + Kennedy, working with a wide range of FMCG brands. Driven by a passion for exploring the brand side of the business, Rina took a leap into the startup world by joining a Singaporean F&B startup. She played a crucial part in establishing the business in Japan and managing local marketing communication. At K&C, she handles client projects and oversees K&C’s Japanese tea brand, a | round tea, utilizing her agency and brand expertise.

Born in Tokyo, to Japanese and Nigerian parents, he began attending an international school at a very young age. He started playing soccer in elementary school and joined a Japanese soccer club as well as attending Japanese elementary school during summer breaks. He grew up in a multicultural environment while also being exposed to Japanese culture. After graduating from high school, he started attending a university in California that competes at the NCAA Division 1 level on a soccer scholarship, where he participated in the National Championship and won regular season conference titles as well. After graduating from college, he joined a Japanese marketing company in the United States. He helped promote Japanese food and alcoholic beverages in the US. After gaining experience in event marketing and influencer marketing, he returned to Japan and joined K&C as a junior experience strategist.

With roots in Manila and later Japan, she’s cultivated profound cultural insight and a curiosity for the ‘whys’. While studying at Aoyama Gakuin University, she delved into CRM in Chloé, and shared stories of social innovators and sustainability at the Japan Times.

Driven by a passion for leveraging insights to effect meaningful change, she joins K&C as a junior brand strategist, dedicated to uncovering the ‘why’ behind every brand and crafting impactful strategies.

Studied at London College of Printing BA(Hon’s) Graphic Art.

One of the founding members of TOMATO: a studio collective made up of individuals from creative backgrounds. It is based in London and New York. Since the famous visual production of the film “Train Spotting”, the group has gone to be a huge success in many of its chosen fields. Simon is the leading figure to TOMATO and well-know graphic designer in the film “The Jackal” or NIke Levis ads but his legacy extends to varied field such as working as an architect, interior designer, fashion designer etc. As a creator SImon himself has many MNC client such as BBC, Universal Pictures, Warner Bross, 20th Century FOX, Royal Mail, Garrard, Nike, Levi’s TV Asahi etc.

It is also evident that there are important links between him and Japanese culture though his works and thus now being a partner/director at Kitchen & Company to pursuit its vision around the globe.

Designer, art director and photographer, Lee has created work for the arts, film, fashion, music and games industries that have included Sony, Uniqlo, Paul Smith, Nike, Saatchi and Artificial Eye.

From 2016 he headed the creative department of Rapha Japan, responsible for for all content, design and film. He has written, illustrated, and photographed for a variety of publications and designed typefaces for T26 and Fountain fonts.

Born and raised in Tokyo, Japan and over 20 years based in New York, Sho’s experience spans industries in the United States and Japan, from Media, Technology, the Arts, Food & Beverage, Automotive, Fashion, and Sustainability. Throughout his creative and entrepreneurial work in his career, from branding, market analysis, to product development, he leverages his experience as a lawyer to think critically and communicate strategically. A native bilingual in Japanese and English, he has worked closely with Fortune 100 companies such as Panasonic, Uber, PepsiCo as well as with startups across the world.

Originally from Tokyo, and graduated from the University of Toronto in Canada. She spent over six years working at the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) where she held a variety of roles in Corporate Communications, including internal communciations, event management, corporate branding and more.

She later joined Talk Shop Media as an Account Manager to lead PR efforts for tech startup companies.

Since returning to Japan in 2023, she joined K&C as an Account Manager. With a background that spans widely across industries, she continually strives to apply her experience in branding and PR to bring creative communication strategies to life.

Born in France, Estelle holds a master’s degree in communications and advertising in Paris. She has 7 years’ experience as a Digital Designer specialising in UX/UI design. She worked for the advertising agency Havas in Paris as Digital Art Director and then for McCann in Paris as User Interface Designer, working on clients’ web interfaces.

Pepa is a marketing professional with a rich academic background spanning Europe and Asia. She began her career in fashion marketing, working on international brand campaigns for Ted Baker. She then transitioned to shopper marketing, leading nationwide campaigns and media events for major FMCG brands in the UK. After earning her Master’s degree at Keio University in Japan, she joined K&C as a Digital Planning Manager, aiming to blend her UK expertise with Japanese insights to drive innovation.

At age 10, Trevor started exploring digital marketing, focusing on learning the ropes of Google Ads. This sparked a genuine passion for branding and marketing. Today, he’s a skilled marketer, known for creating effective strategies, using out of the box thinking, and exceeding business goals. His data-driven approach delivers significant online success, brand visibility, and sales growth. Trevor’s dedication and entrepreneurial spirit drive his impactful work.

A creative at heart, Caroline has worked in events and marketing in New York City for 8 years. She has worked for brands such as Cartier, Louis Vuitton, and Spotify. She also spent time in the adtech space at adMarketplace.

Her writings have been featured in BlackBook Magazine, The Fourhundred Magazine, and for Scentbird.

Born in Tokyo and a graduate of Sophia University, Yuri began her career at Vector Group, where she supported clients in PR activities and video ad sales. Later, she joined the global PR agency Burson Cohn & Wolfe, where she developed corporate branding and PR strategies for multinational clients, including Coca-Cola Japan. She then pursued multimedia design studies in Toronto, where she interned for the Product of the Year Canada Award, gaining hands-on experience in content planning, design, and production. Upon returning to Japan, she joined Henkel, overseeing social media strategy planning, production, and analysis for consumer brands.

In 2024, Yuri joined K&C as a Social Media Community Manager, dedicated to community building through social media.

Born in Tokyo, spent her early childhood in the US. After graduating from Sacred Heart University, she joined a securities firm where she served as a translator and interpreter. Subsequently, she has gained experience in the back offices of several companies. In 2015, she joined K&C and has since been responsible for overall administrative tasks.

Born in Kanagawa, Japan, Ryoko learned pottery at a kiln while in high school and worked as an instructor as well as pursuing it as a hobby. In 2019, she began her culinary career at the restaurants REIMSYANAGIDATE and Ozawa, gaining extensive experience in casual dining and Italian cuisine.

After graduating from a hotel-related vocational school, Natsumi worked as a service staff member at an international members-only club and a Japanese-brand hotel. She joined Kitchen & Company to embark on a new stage of her career.