G-SFIA2026 | Global Space Financial Innovation Alliance Conference

He entered politics after working at Mitsui & Co., Sanden Kotsu and Yamaguchi Gogo Gas, and has served five terms in the House of Councillors and three in the House of Representatives. He has previously held office as Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications, Chief Cabinet Secretary, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Minister of State for Economic and Fiscal Policy, and Minister of Defense. He is a graduate of the Faculty of Law, the University of Tokyo, and holds an MPA from the Harvard Kennedy School.

Since 2022, Hermann Ludwig Moeller is the Director of the European Space Policy Institute (ESPI) in Vienna, the European Think Tank on Space, elected for a second term 2025-2028. ESPI is promoting European Space Policy globally, is providing independent analysis, proposals and recommendations to European decision makers and institutions and is raising public awareness on strategic space issues. Prior to joining ESPI, he held leading positions at ESA in the creation of the EU Copernicus Earth Observation programme and in the preparation of the EU Secure Connectivity initiative as Head of Copernicus Space Segment Office and Head of Telecommunications Strategy, Programme and Transformation Office. Mr. Moeller has more than 20 years of experience in operating with high level leadership in a complex multi-stakeholder environment with national space agencies, ESA member states, at EU level and with EUMETSAT, as well as in public-private partnerships with industry. He was awarded the ESA Douglas Marsh Fellow at NASA and contributed to the creation of the European Internet backbone. He gained first professional experience at the European Patent Office HQ and Siemens HQ. Mr. Moeller holds a master degree in telecommunications, following studies at Technical University Darmstadt and Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Télécommunications (ENST) – Télécom Paris. He is of German nationality with working experience in Germany, Italy, the USA, The Netherlands, France and Austria, is married and father of four children.

Yamazaki was selected as an astronaut candidate by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) in 1999 and flew aboard Space Shuttle Discovery on the STS-131 mission to the International Space Station in 2010. Following her retirement from JAXA in 2011, she served on Japan’s National Space Policy Committee (2012-2022). She co-founded Space Port Japan Association in 2018 and serves as its Representative Director. She is also a Council Member of The Earthshot Prize to protect our home planet, President of Young Astronaut Club Japan, and, since 2025, General Manager of Vast Japan. She holds a Ph.D. in Engineering from the University of Tokyo.

As a “Space Evangelist”, Hide Aoki promotes Japan’s private-sector-led space industry through his expertise in business and technology. After earning a master’s degree in aerospace engineering and a pilot’s licence in the U.S., he joined Mitsubishi Electric, where he worked on Japan’s first cargo spacecraft, Kounotori, and the SLIM lunar lander. He has supported space start-ups as an investor for over 10 years. He also co-founded SPACETIDE Foundation and serves as CEO of Space Port Japan. In addition, he contributes to JAXA and government committees through his broad experience in the space sector.

Japan’s representative to the ASEAN+3 expert dispatch programme for civil service cooperation, and an advisor to the Financial Data Utilization Association. A cross-sector player who also serves as a municipal CIO and a visiting MBA professor. After founding a company in the U.S. as a student, he worked as an architect for internet banking at Dentsu Soken. He has previously served as CTO of Mizuho FG / BlueLab, as a mentor for the Tokyo Metropolitan Government’s foreign company attraction programme, and as an advisor to the Financial Services Agency. Through pro bono work he mentors startups and builds ties with industry bodies abroad, helping shape the ecosystem for financial innovation.

Ms. Shintani has been practicing law in Japan for over 20 years, building a distinguished career in aerospace, defense, and technology law. After pursuing graduate studies at Columbia Law School, she has spent over 13 years devoted to the space industry, advising both legacy aerospace corporations and emerging startups on complex business transactions, venture investments, and risk management. She has extensive experience managing major disputes and high-profile cases, including large-scale projects for Japan’s Ministry of Defense. Beyond her practice, she has actively contributed to national policy, serving on Japan’s Space Policy Committee, including the Security Subcommittee and the Transport Subcommittee, and participating in recent legislative reforms in the aerospace sector. She also serves as an outside director at Rapidus Inc., a national strategic semiconductor company. Her work extends to Deep Tech industries, including aerospace, defense, and frontier technologies, where she provides legal guidance on complex business transactions and strategic initiatives.

With over 35 years of experience in the insurance industry, including 12 years in space and aviation insurance. He is currently the only Senior Specialist in the Aerospace field at Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance, where he leads initiatives in risk management for space businesses and actively promotes space insurance as a method of risk hedging. Since joining the company he has been responsible for client relations with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, major railway operators, and leading electronics and automobile manufacturers. He lectures on aviation law at Keio University’s Faculty of Law and at the Faculty of Law of Gakushuin University, and appears frequently in media interviews and publications. Having been stationed in London and Sydney, he brings a wealth of international experience and expertise in arrangements such as Global Insurance Programs. He is a Board Member of the Japan Space Forum.

He founded Bascule in 2000. Using technology, he creates experiences that cut across advertising, broadcasting, sport, cities and space, and has won several hundred international creative awards. In 2020, in a co-creation with JAXA, he launched “KIBO Space Broadcasting Station”, connecting the International Space Station with the ground. At Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai he worked on the experience design of two signature pavilions and delivered the Expo’s first interactive live event linking the ISS with the venue. In 2026 he launched “TerraCaster”, an Earth-observation video platform, in earnest together with Nippon Television. He works to bring the view of Earth from space into everyday life and to create space entertainment anyone can take part in.

Since 1998 he has been engaged in mobile network planning, coverage design and quality optimization. From 2001 to 2015 he worked within the Kyocera Group, contributing to telecommunications technologies and businesses during a period of rapid growth in the mobile communications industry. In 2015, recognizing the significant potential of integrating mobile communications with Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) technologies, he founded Enabler Ltd. In 2018 he co-founded ALES Inc. with SoftBank Corp. and led the commercialization of high-precision positioning information services. Since 2021 he has been working on the design and development of an “Information Trust Infrastructure” that integrates communications, positioning, cryptographic and blockchain technologies. In 2025 he founded Data Trust Ltd. Today he is focused on establishing the authenticity of location, time and digital data, with the goal of building a “Verifiable Information Trust Infrastructure” for AI agents, finance and industry.

Chair of Crisis Mappers Japan, a collaborating researcher at the Center for Spatial Information Science at the University of Tokyo, and a member of OpenStreetMap Foundation Japan and the Japan chapter of the OSGeo Foundation. He holds a master’s degree in environmental studies from the Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, the University of Tokyo. His fields are cartography and spatial information science. Centred on the use of geospatial information, he provides technical consulting and teaching on Google geo services, open-source GIS and open data (OpenStreetMap, PLATEAU, the Tokyo Digital Twin and others). In recent years, under the banner of turning every citizen into a surveyor, he has thrown himself into OpenStreetMap, criss-crossing the field with panoramic imaging and drones to make maps.

From 1999 he worked as a systems engineer at an IT company within a trading house group, handling financial systems development, new business development in the M2M field and support for overseas startups entering Japan. In 2016 he joined Information Services International-Dentsu (now Dentsu Soken), where he ran a community space for fintech startups and worked on the company’s own new business development. He joined FINOLAB, Inc. at its founding, focusing on business development support for corporates and on startup support, helping create and grow new businesses. In 2026 he returned to the Business Development Office at Dentsu Soken, where he now works on exploring new business opportunities and building new businesses.

Naruo Kanemoto is a Japanese entrepreneur and the CEO / Founder of Space Shift, Inc., one of Japan’s first multinational space startups. With a background in machine learning, Kanemoto’s career journey spans from the music industry to the space sector, giving him a broad range of skills and experiences. In 2009 he established Space Shift, which focuses on developing software for satellite data analysis using AI and machine learning. Beyond his leadership at Space Shift, Kanemoto is also involved in consulting for non-space companies, helping them integrate space technologies into their businesses. He is a member of the Japanese Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications’ Conference on Space x ICT and the Future Vision of Space Utilisation, contributing to the direction of space-related policies and innovations in Japan.

After completing his graduate studies at the Graduate School of Science and Technology, Keio University, he joined the National Space Development Agency of Japan, where he worked on the development and launch of the H-IIA rocket. Following a research post at the European Space Agency (ESA), he served as a principal engineer at JAXA, leading independent verification and validation of software for the International Space Station and satellites, and handling international cooperation with NASA and ESA on spacecraft software. He moved to Keio University in 2009. He has since served as a visiting professor at the Asian Institute of Technology, an advisor to the High Performance Strategy Division of the Japan Sport Council, and Principal of Keio Yokohama Elementary School. He is a director of the Japan Institute of Navigation, a steering committee member of Multi-GNSS Asia, and Representative Director of the Space Service Innovation Lab. He is also a visiting professor at the Center for Design Research, Stanford University, and a visiting professor at the Institutes of Innovation for Future Society, Nagoya University. PMI PMP. Ph.D. in Media and Governance.

He spent some 30 years in banking, working in structured finance and overseas operations. A posting in Europe showed him how highly Japanese engineering and quality are regarded abroad, and he moved into the space sector wanting to build on that strength as a new industry for the world. At JAXA he now supports companies entering and commercializing in the space field, and works to expand the flow of capital into the space industry and to build momentum for industrial support from financial institutions.

Kentaro Iwanaga joined the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), Japan, in 2017. He has worked on policies related to trade control, economic security, information technology, and the aircraft industry, including the development of aircraft industry strategies, technology development programs, and supply chain resilience initiatives. Since July 2024, he has been responsible for formulating policies to promote the commercialization and growth of Japan’s space industry.

He joined Mizuho Bank in 2000. After working in sales for mid-sized companies and large corporations, credit review for large corporations, loan planning and branch management, he took up his current position in 2023, heading the startup-focused credit department — the only department at a Japanese bank that also carries a client-facing relationship function. Centred on debt financing for startups, he supports their growth across a broad range of needs.