Naoki Shimada founded P&E Directions after working for Apple Computer, Boston Consulting Group, and ICG Japan. P&E provides strategy planning and execution services using client/P&E collaboration model in order for the clients to obtain successful outcome and achieve business growth. He has conducted over 1,000 consulting projects with over 200 clients ranging from mega companies with annual sales of more than a trillion yen to smaller unlisted/individually owned companies with sales less than 10 billion yen per a year in high-tech manufacturing, system integration, financial institutions/investment, wholesale/retail/restaurants in distribution, service, and entertainment industries.

Appointments outside of P&E include: External board member of Nihon M&A Center and other venture capitals and listed companies; Lecturer on hospital management at Tokyo Medical Dental University; Outside Auditor of an investment fund operated by Evergreen Group; External board member of SCS Global (International financial consulting company in Singapore); Advisor of Dairen Lushun Investment and Financial Business Association in China.

Hisaji Yoneda joined P&E Directions after working at a Japanese financial company and American and European strategic consulting firms.
He has over 20 years of experience as a strategy consultant.
With a wide range of industries such as material chemistry, precision machinery, retail, logistics, and energy, he has been involved in supporting numerous domestic companies in areas including vision setting, medium-term business planning, new business development, M&A, Business DD, PMI, and ESG/SDGs management for corporate transformation and value enhancement.
Striving for transformation plans that are aligned with the desired image, he focuses on increasing feasibility by involving not only executive officers but also young members from various departments.
He aims to foster a sense of ownership and understanding among individuals through workshops.
Additionally, he contributes to the development of key talents through projects.

Kenji Kibe joined P&E Directions after working at Funai Consulting.
He has extensive experience across a broad range of B2C industries, with a primary focus on the food sector—including food manufacturers, wholesalers, food service providers, and agriculture—as well as apparel, general retail, e-commerce, service chains, and healthcare (hospitals and clinics).

He has been involved in numerous projects related to corporate and business growth, including the development of group visions and mid-term business plans, formulation and execution of M&A strategies, new business development, and organizational capability enhancement.

He is particularly skilled at identifying the root causes of management challenges through quantitative analysis at both macro and micro levels, developing solutions based on structured problem analysis, and embedding those solutions within organizations to foster sustainable growth.

He also has experience serving as an external director of a joint venture established between a client company and P&E Directions.

Tomohiro (Tomo) Hayakawa joined P&E Directions after working at a major foreign strategic consulting firm, a few domestic consulting firms and in an accounting, sales, and strategic planning department of a major Japanese trading and investment house.
He has various experiences, particularly in a way of hands-on style support, of value-up, enhancement of business management, structural reform, development and execution of business strategies and mid-term management plans, and M&A-related supports including but not limited to business due diligence, PMI (Post Merger Integration) for Private Equity funds and domestic and overseas operating companies in a wide range of industries such as consumer goods manufacturers, restaurants, retailers, apparel, services, logistics, electronics, human resource services, etc..
He aspires to produce results and successes of clients through development of business plans premised on execution, rotation of high-frequency PDCA cycle, close communication and building trusting relationship with the executing partners and appropriate division of roles with clients.

Tomohiro Ogasawara has participated in various projects involving business due diligence for PE funds and venture capitals, business development including business planning, corporate planning, and brand reconstruction by quantitative analysis and strategy development for various manufacturers. Tomohiro has also conducted detailed industry research on over 100 industries ranging from manufacturing (machinery, electronics, etc.) to retail and service industries, as well as macro market analysis for domestic and international markets, in addition to corporate analysis of individual companies. His strength lies in quantitative analysis of large data such as multiple classification analysis for various management indicators, to identify issues, and to derive and examine hypotheses and possible solutions.

Graduate from Institute of Science Tokyo (former Tokyo Institute) of Technology Department of Industrial Engineering and Management (BS).
Institute of Science Tokyo (former Tokyo Institute) of Technology Graduate School of Decision Science and Technology (MS).

Masayuki Nishio joined P&E Directions after working for major global consulting firms.
He has led E2E business transformation support from Strategy/Business concept planning to operation design and  system implementation for a wide range of industries centered on the manufacturing industry such as machinery, electric appliances, heavy industry, industrial machinery, electronic components, chemical manufacturers, the food service, and the logistics.  He engages in sale / marketing innovation project such as sales strategy planning, rebuilding sales channels, implement marketing / loyalty program, sales process transformation. And supply chain management project as below.
・Supply and demand management business transformation(S&OP) to achieve sales and profit targets
・Supply chain strategy for visibility and feasibility of value chain
 He specializes in organizing and embodying strategies and policies aimed at establishing business transformation.
・ Stakeholder engagement and consensus building in strategy execution
・ Support for trial and implementation of new business operations
・ Setting goals for improvement sales capabilities, and formulating and implementing action guidelines

Takanori “Taka” Sagawa joined P&E Directions after working at PwC Consulting LLC.
He has more than 10 years of experience as a strategy consustant.
Taka has mainly focused on developing competitive strategies, new businesses and M&A strategies for mainly manufanturing companies (including but not limited to chemical and materials, medical devices, pharmaceuticals, food and beverages), energy companies (especially renewable energies and batteries) and waste management companies. He is driven by his passion of identifying and crystallizing the "hidden gem" of his clients. His experise covers not only developing the M&A strategies but also their execution (both buy-side and sell-side); moreover, he has a rich experience in business due-diligences.
Prior to his consulting career, he has worked as a research chemical engineer at Toray Industries, Inc. This experience helps him develop R&D strategies that meet his clients' market needs.

Kazuto Morimoto has engaged in projects with clients across a wide range of industries, including food and beverage, retail, consumer goods manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, finance, logistics, web media, cybersecurity, system integrators, design, M&A advisory, and private equity funds.
In the retail sector, he provided support to multiple companies on mid-term strategies, store expansion plans, e-commerce strategies, and group procurement strategies. Additionally, he has experience in industry restructuring through M&A, contributing to business growth from a broad perspective that includes both organic growth and partnerships.
In the manufacturing sector, he delivered results through deep involvement in clients' operations, including formulating mid-term strategies centered on resource reallocation and overseeing long-term projects to enhance on-site productivity. Furthermore, leveraging cross-sector insights from the retail industry, he is skilled in supporting sales strategies from a manufacturer’s perspective.
He possesses expertise in supporting high-growth companies, helping them establish management policies tailored to the unique challenges of rapidly growing businesses, including management planning, mid-term vision formulation, and group collaboration guidelines. He also has a proven track record in identifying capital partners to accelerate further growth.
In the M&A field, he has diverse experience, ranging from preparing pitch materials and identifying potential partners on the sell side, to proactively searching for partnership opportunities, providing proposal support, and conducting business due diligence on the buy side. Additionally, he has contributed to launching new initiatives for M&A advisory firms.

Joined our company after working at Japanese financial institutions, M&A boutiques, and global accounting firms (including a secondment to a government-affiliated financial institution).
With over 15 years of experience in M&A advisory services, he has provided financial advisory (FA) services to a wide range of industries, including construction, food, textiles, pulp and paper, chemicals, oil, non-ferrous metals, electrical equipment, shipbuilding, precision instruments, trading companies, retail, real estate, land transportation, and services, as well as private equity (PE) funds.

He has extensive experience in originating and executing a wide range of M&A transactions, including acquisitions, business integrations, carve-outs, group reorganizations, and management buyouts (MBOs) by listed companies, as well as business succession, civil rehabilitation, and exits by private equity funds for unlisted companies.

Soshiro Torii has worked on many projects related to mid-term business planning, new business planning and business due diligence. He has worked on mid-term business strategy development for a medium-scale pharmaceutical firm and local department store, sales strategy planning for major food manufacturer, and a new product development project for an industrial products manufacturer. Soshiro has supported various business due diligence projects, such as those related to retail chains, apparel brands and industrial products manufacturers. He specializes in strategic planning and execution plans based on benchmark cases in other industries, in addition to macro / micro market research and qualitative / quantitative analysis.

Yuma Murakami engages in growth strategy projects for various industries including pharmaceutical, IT, food, and logistics. His past projects include benchmark analysis of growth companies, analysis of economy and new business entry planning in Southeast Asian countries, and development of market entry strategies based on those analysis. He also provides corporate analysis of target companies in M&A projects.

Takuma Sano joined P&E after working at major global and domestic independent consulting firms.

He has extensive experience supporting clients across industries—including food service, integrated services, public foundations, and PE-backed companies—in areas such as post-merger integration (PMI), new business development, mid-term planning, and organizational improvement, with a hands-on, collaborative approach.

He has also led business due diligence for apparel and construction firms, and managed system renewal PMOs, BPR planning, and RPA implementation for clients in finance, staffing, trading, and manufacturing.

He is committed to providing hands-on support, working side-by-side with a wide range of stakeholders to drive problem-solving initiatives.

Sora Anzai has experience in mid-term and departmental business planning and progress management for major food service and catering companies, from planning to implementation at the client site. He specializes in supporting the implementation of plans by entering the client's site and accompanying the client through the process.

Yuki Endo joined P&E Directions after working for a major chemical manufacturer.
In his previous company, he has experience in overseas marketing for B-to-C products, and also has spent time working overseas in U.S. and Canada as an international expat, with responsibility of business planning, execution, profitability management, operation management.
Since joining P&E Directions, he has extensive experience in formulating growth strategies, new business development, and mid-term business plans for industries such as telecommunications, IT, manufacturing and retail companies.
He also has experience in business due diligence and business valuation for investment funds in a wide range of industries including IT, construction, manufacturing, trading, and real estate.
He specializes in multifaceted analysis of management issues from both qualitative and quantitative perspectives, as well as driving problem-solving approaches by building relationship and working closely with clients, from top management to the operational level.

Tatsuya Ishii joined P&E Directions after working at a major domestic think tank.
He has experience of consulting projects for a wide range of industries. Especially, He has been involved in projects for basic industries such as energy, materials, chemicals, and semiconductors.
He has participated in various projects, including BDD, subsidiary sale, and M&A strategy. Then, He has a lot of experience in consulting of new business development and new market entry, which these markets are not well known to clients.
When carrying out projects, he works together with members of the client company as a one team to create results.
He is skilled at getting findings from research using interviews with experts, patent information, academic papers, secondary information, etc., and putting them into actionable strategies and action plans.

Ketan Ranadive joined P&E Directions after working for KPMG (London), JP Morgan (London), Axis Bank (Singapore), and Maybank (Singapore) as a Director. He is an expert in formulating growth strategy and providing matching investment and financial strategy support to a broad range of firms ranging from large international businesses to small start-ups. He has an extensive experience in providing consulting and financial support for financial services, energy, manufacturing sectors in Asia and Europe. He has also worked on numerous corporate financing projects, founded private equity funds, and managed portfolio and exit strategy plans. He has financed a combined investment of over 250 million US dollars in the energy sector in East and Southeast Asian countries. He has also been engaged in over 10 billion US dollars worth of M&A deals across various industries.

Theeraratstit Theerapa is our Southeast Asia liaison member based in Thailand. She has participated in various projects across several sectors, including food & beverage, retail, IT/telecom, and other service industry businesses. She specializes in market analysis and growth strategy development, with implementation in Southeast Asian countries, primarily Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia. Past projects include analysis and strategy development for entry into the Southeast Asia market by a major IT company, and research for Asia expansion potential and marketability for a Japanese service company.