Are you interested in volunteering for a JFS event or are looking to get more involved? Contact us for more information! We look forward to hearing from you and welcoming you to our team!

Hayato K. Mitsuishi
President

Hayato was born and raised in Toronto Canada. He attended high school in New York and Keio University in Tokyo. After obtaining his B.A., he joined Matsuda Sangyo Co., Ltd., a trading company in Japan. In 2005, Hayato relocated to Los Angeles to study for an MBA at the UCLA Anderson School of Management and to pursue his career in entertainment. Upon graduation he joined Twentieth Century Fox as an international market consultant. In March 2008, Hayato established Kevin’s Entertainment, a talent management company specializing in Japanese talent. In June 2009, he co-founded the Japan Film Society to create a platform to showcase and connect Japanese films and filmmakers with the entertainment industry in Hollywood and the United States.

Aki Mizuno
Vice President

After earning her B.A. from Keio University, Aki moved to the US to pursue a career in the entertainment industry. While studying at UCLA, she took on the position of Festival Director for the 2nd annual Japan Film Festival Los Angeles. With this experience and a passion to further her involvement in the promotion of Japanese cinema in the states, she helped co-found the Japan Film Society in 2009. Aki continues to have an active role in the day-to-day management of the organization in addition to acting as Programming Director. She is also the assistant to renowned Japanese filmmaker Shunji Iwai. Growing up with a Korean mother and American uncle, she also brings an international mix to the group and has helped to bridge many communities in the course of organizational development.

Terusa Miyoshi
Operations Director

Originally from Kobe, Japan. Terusa moved to the U.S. after she graduated high school to explore and meet people from diverse cultures. After receiving her degree in Interior Design, she has been working as a professional interior designer and a design coordinator handling overseas projects in multicultural environments both in the U.S. and Japan. Her professional experiences allow her to pursue her enjoyment in challenging and discovering new things. Terusa joined the Japan Film Society in 2010 and share her professional coordinating experience with rest of the team.

Bryan Hartzheim
Programming Director

Bryan is a Ph.D candidate in UCLA’s Department of Film, Television, and Digital Media. His writings on Japanese cinema and media have appeared in Metropolis, Midnight Eye, Anime Insider, Rue Morgue, Topless Robot, and he’s contributed as a critic for BBC Radio. He was selected to participate in the International Film Festival Rotterdam’s Young Critics Program in 2010, and has covered numerous film festivals around the world for Asia Pacific Arts Magazine. He was the former Japan Editor of animeOnline.com, and is currently the editor-in-chief of Mediascape, UCLA’s Journal of Cinema and Media Studies.

Richard Jones
PR Director

Richard was born and raised in Columbus, Ohio and moved to Los Angeles to attend Occidental College. During college he held a position as a publicist for an independent record label and after graduation he worked as both a writer and a teacher. Richard has lived in both Osaka and Tokyo in Japan and is currently working as a freelance editor in Los Angeles. In 2010 he entered the Interdepartmental East Asian Studies Program at UCLA and is pursing a Master’s degree in modern Japanese literature and culture. Richard joined the Japan Film Society in 2011 as director of Public Relations.

Shumpei Fukui
Sponsorship Director

Shumpei was born and raised in Miyazaki Prefecture, Japan. After earning a BA in Business Administration at Hosei University in Tokyo, he joined NTT DATA CORPORATION, and worked in Sales and Marketing. In 2008, he started Triswith Inc., a design company specifically focusing on space and business model design. During this time, he also worked at Xseed Co., LTD, an IT infrastructure company specializing in cloud computing technology as Sales Manager and Service Planner, and D-Works, a Marketing and Business Development company as a Business Producer. Shumpei is currently attending the MBA program at the Pepperdine Graziadio School of Business and Management and is focusing his studies on Entrepreneurship.

Shintaro Ito
Events Director

Shintaro is originally from Osaka. He worked at MBS, a Japanese television production company, before moving to the U.S. to pursue a career in the entertainment industry. He has worked on several film and TV production in Los Angeles. He co-founded a film event group called “B.E-butterfly effect-“and has organized a variety of film related events in his capacity as director. Recently, he produced a new type of film festival, “Cinelympics!”in which he connected both American and Japanese theaters via internet and had American and Japanese films compete Live in the U.S. and Japan. He is also a manager for LA based punk band, “We Are Not Afraid”. In 2011, Shintaro joined Japan Film Society as Events Director to share his successful experience in event producing.

Hiroyuki Senda
Legal Director

Hiro was born and raised in Niigata, Japan. After receiving his B.A. from University of Tokyo in 2000, he moved to New York to study at Columbia University where he obtained a Master’s degree in Public Administration. After graduation Hiro worked as a financial correspondent at Nikkei Newspaper and got actively involved in politics, eventually working on Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign. In 2008, he moved to Los Angeles to attend Loyola Law School. During his three years at Loyola, he was a Research Editor at the Entertainment Law Review, and interned at Sheppard Mullin Richter and Hampton LLP and Funny or Die, Inc. His ultimate goal is to practice entertainment law, and after receiving his J.D. he took the California Bar Exam in July 2011. Hiro joined the Japan Film Society in August 2011 as Legal Director.