As a Teaching Assistant for the course, Kuo Jian Wong offers unique insights. A recent graduate of Hitotsubashi ICS's MBA Class of 2021, he completed his 2-year MBA program in August 2023. Jian provides a glimpse into this newly endowed course, which was jointly run by Hitotsubashi ICS and INPEX Corporation. 

During the thrilling conclusion of Fireside Chat 1, we had the incredible opportunity to unite aspiring MBA applicants with ICS alumni from different class years. Participants engaged in lively dialogues, discussing various aspects of the ICS culture, the student experience, and the MBA journey. Alumni panelists also shared valuable insights into how their post-ICS MBA experiences have contributed to their current successes in life.

Recently graduated, Louise Lane Calicdan, a Young Leaders Program (YLP) scholar from the MBA Class of 2022, shares her remarkable experience undertaking Doing Business in Asia (DBiA). The program was annually run by Hitotsubashi ICS, Guanghua School of Management at Peking University, and the Graduate School of Business at Seoul National University. Hailing from an arts and cultural background, she approaches DBiA from an interesting perspective. 

During our recent online Open campus event, we had the pleasure of introducing participants to the vibrant culture of Hitotsubashi ICS, as well as providing insights into our MBA program and the unique offerings of our institution. One of the highlights was the opportunity for participants to delve into the world of Japanese Business and Economy (JBE), a signature course that forms an integral part of our MBA curriculum.

Qianyi Ye, a 2-year MBA Program student from the Class of 2022, shares her recent internship experience in this edition of Byline ICS. The internship program was jointly run by Hitotsubashi ICS and the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST). In the article, she discusses how she leveraged both her current MBA learnings and her professional experience.

Hitotsubashi ICS organized, together with the ICS Alumni Association, the 2nd Online ICS Alumni Day on Saturday, June 25. The event was co-hosted by Professor Yoshi Fujikawa (Yoshi), the faculty in charge of external relations and external affairs, and Yukiko Ueno (Yuki), an EMBA alumna from the Class of 2020.

In this edition of Byline ICS, Coco, a 2-year student in Hitotsubashi ICS's MBA Program, talks about her experience of being an "ICSer" (ICS student), busy MBA student and mother - all while living in a different continent for over a year - as well as her time in US on exchange at one of the country's most prestigious business schools, the University of Virginia Darden School of Business with her family.

In this Byline ICS piece, Pun MBA Class of 2020, whom we previously interviewed regarding her Japanese Language studies, shares her experience of doing a short-term homestay with a family in Tokyo. Read in this blog post why she decided to live with a host family and the rewards this experience has brought.  

In this Byline ICS edition, MBA Shoko Gervais, tells us why she decided to pursuit an MBA at Hitotsubashi ICS, after several years of working in the banking industry and the across the globe journey that her family embarked on to pursue her dream.  

Student Board is a student-driven organization that represents and serves the cohort throughout the academic year. They raise funds, organize multiple events and become a bridge between the class and the school administration. As usual, this year's Student Board Election took place at the beginning of the academic year. As a result, ten board members were selected and started working together. 

Doing an MBA in a foreign country is an exciting challenge. We receive many questions from candidates who have families to bring to enjoy this new challenge together. The answer is, Yes, of course! In this Byline ICS, we introduce Chinmay Acharya’s story, who brought his family from India during his MBA.

In this second part of our interview with Professor Asuka Takaoka, we discuss her doctoral thesis research, how she balanced her DBA studies, work, personal commitments; and what she learned from her DBA at Hitotsubashi ICS. (Read part 1 of this blogpost here)

There have been fewer opportunities to feature the DBA (Doctor of Business Administration) program, our doctorate program at Hitotsubashi ICS compared to our MBA and DBA programs. In this edition of our alumni voices, we sat down with DBA graduate, Asuka Takaoka, to talk about her DBA journey at Hitotsubashi ICS.

Asuka graduated from the part-time DBA program while working full-time. We talked to her about why she decided to pursue a doctoral degree, how she spent her five years at DBA, her research theme, and how she manages her time. We have divided the interview into two parts.

Charlie, Nabe, Shige, and I joined the Yale Africa Startup Review this year, where our team, the "Otaku Four," collaborated with Developers In Vogue (DIV). DIV is a Ghanaian NGO that provides African women with IT education, such as programming to boost the social advancement of African women.

Kula, from the Class of 2019 shared her 2nd-year activity experiences during the COVID-19 and her decision to change her activity from the Exchange program to the Internship program.

Kulasara Mahanama Siriwardena (Kula)

She majored in Information System Engineering with a Bachelor of Engineering. Before entering ICS, she was a project coordinator and a software engineer with a demonstrated history of working in the industrial automation industry at Yokogawa Electric Corporation. She currently works at AI Ethics Promotion Office at Sony Group Corporation. Fluent in both Japanese and English.