Brands emerge when we share ideas and a vision. Culture builds when we create connections.

We are dedicated to building brands for people, and with people, either through our creative agency or through the individual brands we’ve launched. Our organisation opens opportunities where we see them and supports our partners in achieving successful enterprises with strong human connectivity.

Successful brands create balance between the choices they make & the way they behave.
This is the power of ‘&’.

Our Agency

K&C

Culture & Business

Intersecting culture, strategy, and communication.

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Our Brands

UEHARA KITCHEN

Ingredient & Inspiration

Everyday Extraordinary. Curating experiences and connections made around the table.

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Around Tea

Flavor & Moment

From Tokyo. Crafted for contemporary tea drinkers.

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AROUND THE TABLE

Pros & Contra

Connecting ideas through borderless conversations.

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Our Approach

This Human Life is a
Partnership

We explore what partnership means for businesses and organisations and how connecting people and culture improves brand effectiveness. Our goal is to enhance the positive qualities that we find, and in doing so improve communication, collaboration, and the way we interact with each other.

Humanity is integral to your brand. Partnerships are key to your future. A way of living, a way of being.

Approach

Our Ambition

Reveal
ing the
potential with Japan

One of Japan's strongest traits is its ability to develop and evolve. We work with business and industry to help unlock the huge latent potential that Japan has to offer.

Our ambition is to share the talent and ingenuity on offer with the rest of the world.

Ambition

& Our People

We have a global mindset with Japanese roots. We interpret and resonate with our community's core values of commitment, cohesion, consciousness, and continuity, all of which inform our approach and creativity.

And ‘&’ And ‘&’
Michi

Michi
Founder, Managing Director

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Daisuke Nakamichi

Daisuke Nakamichi
Founder, Managing Director

Senior members Tokyo

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.

Hugo

Hugo
Partner, Senior Director Strategy

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Hugo Burel

Hugo Burel
Partner, Senior Director Strategy

Senior members Tokyo

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.

Ami

Ami
Senior Strategist

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Ami Hirano

Ami Hirano
Senior Strategist

Tokyo, Japan

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

Rina
Experience Strategist / Brand Manager

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Rina Deguchi

Rina Deguchi
Experience Strategist / Brand Manager

Tokyo,Japan

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.

Lawrence

Lawrence
Jr Experience Strategist

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Lawrence Yamaguchi

Lawrence Yamaguchi
Jr Experience Strategist

Tokyo, Japan

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.

Aliyah

Aliyah
Jr Brand Strategist

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Aliyah Iwai

Aliyah Iwai
Jr Brand Strategist

Tokyo, Japan

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.

Simon

Simon
Executive Director, Creative Planning

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Simon Taylor

Simon Taylor
Executive Director, Creative Planning

Senior members Tokyo

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.

Lee

Lee
Senior Art Director

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Lee Basford

Lee Basford
Senior Art Director

Tokyo, Japan

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.

Sho

Sho
Director of Business Growth & Innovation

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Sho Sato

Sho Sato
Director of Business Growth & Innovation

New York

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.

Sayuri

Sayuri
Account Manager

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Sayuri Tanaka

Sayuri Tanaka
Account Manager

Tokyo, Japan

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.

Estelle

Estelle
Senior UX/UI Designer

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Estelle Suzuki

Estelle Suzuki
Senior UX/UI Designer

Tokyo, Japan

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

Pepa
Digital Planning Manager

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Pepa Neykova

Pepa Neykova
Digital Planning Manager

Tokyo, Japan

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.

Trevor

Trevor
Digital Planner

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Trevor Lainchbury

Trevor Lainchbury
Digital Planner

Tokyo, Japan

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.

Caroline

Caroline
Copywriter and Social Community Manager

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Caroline Seghers

Caroline Seghers
Copywriter and Social Community Manager

Tokyo, Japan

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.

Yuri

Yuri
Social Media Community Manager

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Yuri Ono

Yuri Ono
Social Media Community Manager

Tokyo, Japan

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.

Kyoko

Kyoko
General Affairs

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Kyoko Ideno

Kyoko Ideno
General Affairs

Tokyo

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.

Ryoko

Ryoko
Uehara Kitchen

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Ryoko Kotouge

Ryoko Kotouge
Uehara Kitchen

Tokyo, Japan

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.

Natsumi

Natsumi
Uehara Kitchen

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Natsumi Moriyama

Natsumi Moriyama
Uehara Kitchen

Tokyo, Japan

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.