Corporate Information

Headquartered in Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, we are a sports and social business company dedicated to youth sports and community engagement. We primarily provide services related to the organization and operations of sports schools and sports events for children. Building upon our experience and know-how in sports education, we also operate a robust social business sector, dispatching sports coaches to meet various community needs.

Our corporate philosophy is to change and design sports. We believe that challenges facing schools, families, administrations, and corporations can be improved and resolved by social contribution and educational guidance through sports.

Sports School Business

We offer a diverse array of sports schools tailored to various age groups, encompassing disciplines such as soccer, baseball, basketball, tennis, and martial arts, as well as our innovative multi-discipline sports program, JJMIX. This breadth of offerings is designed to cater to a wide range of interests and skills, promoting a holistic approach to physical education that integrates the development of non-cognitive skills. Beyond sports classes, our sports schools organize three seasonal camps during school vacations in spring, summer, and winter. Activities include sports training, team-building exercises, and fun tasks that teach children to manage their responsibilities. We also organize nature and cultural activities that provide hands-on experiences related to agriculture, forestry, and cultural practices. These activities aim to broaden children’s horizons, fostering curiosity and appreciation for different aspects of life.

Social Business

Our social business leverages over a decade of the know-how accumulated in the sports school business since our foundation and expanded into adjacent business areas with significant synergies, including: school club support, where we provide sports coaching in school club activities and physical education classes, mainly based on outsourcing contracts commissioned by local governments; LEIF after-school daycare, which supports children with disabilities or developmental characteristics through soccer therapy; and elderly healthcare, where we offer exercise programs for the elderly.

Kiyotaka Ito

Representative Director and Chief Executive Officer

Mr. Ito is our founder and has been our representative director and chief executive officer since August 2001. Before founding Leifras, Mr. Ito was in charge of the Kyushu area at CLIP Corporation, a Japanese joint-stock corporation operating cram schools targeting elementary and junior high school students and soccer classes for early elementary schoolers, from April 1987 to July 2001. He also owned a basketball team named “Rizing Fukuoka,” now known as “Rizing Zephyr Fukuoka,” a professional basketball team in B League, from September 2012 to August 2014. Mr. Ito served as a representative director and CEO at Leifras Travel from April 2019 to March 2020. Mr. Ito serves as a president and representative director of K2MY Co., Ltd., his asset management company. In March 1987, Mr. Ito obtained a bachelor’s degree from the Faculty of Education, the University of the Ryukyus in Naha, Okinawa.

Mitsuharu Yazawa

Chief Financial Officer and Director

Mr. Yazawa has been our director since December 2023 and has been our chief financial officer since May 2025. In April 1991, he started his career at Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank, Ltd., now known as Mizuho Bank Ltd. (“Mizuho”), where he was primarily involved in syndicated loan planning, structuring, and sales. He served as a chief advisor of the corporate finance department of Mizuho from May 2004 to June 2008. Having served at Mizuho until September 2014, Mr. Yazawa served as a general manager at Trust & Custody Services Bank Ltd., now known as Custody Bank of Japan, from October 2014 to December 2023, and was responsible for asset management and planning. Mr. Yazawa obtained a bachelor’s degree in economics from Keio University in March 1991.

Takamichi Kon

Director

Mr. Kon has been our director responsible for our Social Action Division since July 2017. He joined Leifras in April 2006 and was our executive officer and general manager of public relations from October 2014 to August 2015, our Tohoku regional manager from September 2015 to July 2016, and our Tokyo, Kanto, and Tohoku regional manager from August 2016 to June 2017. Mr. Kon obtained a vocational school degree in 2005 from Sendai Resort & Sports College in Sendai city, Miyagi prefecture, where he specialized in health and sport science.

Hitoshi Kawabata

Director

Mr. Kawabata has been our director responsible for our Supporting Division since December 2022. He joined Leifras in January 2003 and has held several managerial positions, including general manager from October 2014 to September 2016, executive officer responsible for management of sales department in Kinki region from October 2016 to July 2017, and executive director and general manager of internal audit from August 2017 to March 2021. He served as our corporate auditor from March 2021 to December 2022. Mr. Kawabata obtained a bachelor’s degree from Kansai University of Foreign Studies in March 2002.

Michio Nagatsu

Director

Mr. Nagatsu has been our director since March 2025. Mr. Nagatsu also served as our chief financial officer from June 2024 to May 2025. Mr. Nagatsu kickstarted his career in finance department at Taiyo Fishery Co., Ltd., now known as Maruha Nichiro Holdings Corporation (TYO:1333, “Maruha”), in April 1987. From January 1993 to May 2001, he was seconded to serve as Chief Financial Officer in a number of Maruha’s subsidiaries in North America, responsible for corporate finance and management, accounting, auditing, and tax strategy. From April 2002 to March 2005, Mr. Nagatsu was a manager of the Financial Planning and Analysis of GE Consumer Finance Co, Ltd., a Japanese subsidiary of GE Capital. He subsequently served as a senior controller at Microsoft Japan, Co., Ltd., responsible for regional corporate finance, from March 2005 to November 2015. From December 2015 to May 2021, he served as a general manager at Nissin Food Holdings, Co., Ltd. (TYO:2897), where he was responsible for business management and corporate finance, including leading the implementation of International Financial Reporting Standards and the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting action plan. From May 2021 to June 2024, Mr. Nagatsu served as a co-head of Corporate Division at Digital Garage Inc. (TYO:4819), responsible for human resources and general corporate affairs. Mr. Nagatsu obtained a bachelor’s degree in literature from Waseda University in March 1987.

Kazuma Inoue

Director

Mr. Inoue has been our director responsible for our Social Business Headquarters since March 2025. He joined Leifras in September 2001 and has held several managerial positions, including head of professional sports support division from November 2014 to July 2017, executive officer and chief operating officer at Leifras Kyushu, one of our branch, from July 2017 to January 2021, deputy general manager of our Social Action Headquarters and head of Kyushu branch, from January 2021 to July 2023, and head of Western Japan Headquarters and head of Kyushu Branch from July 2023 to March 2025. From November 2014 to July 207, Mr. Inoue also served as a director at Fukuoka Professional Basketball Co., Ltd., our subsidiary managing our basketball team. Mr. Inoue graduated from Fukuoka Prefectural Genyo High School in March 1997.

Mitsunobu Kawaharada

Independent Director

Mr. Kawaharada has been an independent director since September 2019. In April 1982, he started his career as a banker at Mizuho, before moving to Chikuho Bank Ltd. (“Chikuho”), a regional bank headquartered in Fukuoka prefecture, in June 2012. At Chikuho, he served as a Fukuoka branch manager from June 2014 to June 2017 and as a managing executive officer for sales department from July 2017 to June 2019. Mr. Kawaharada also has an extensive experience in real estate industry. He has served as a founder, the chief executive officer, and the representative director of Rubicon Ltd., a real estate and consulting company, since July 2019. Mr. Kawaharada has been a senior partner at Bell One LLC, a real estate leasing company, since September 2019, a director at Eiko Cemetery Foundation since May 2013, and a corporate auditor at Yachiyo Kensetu Corporation, a Fukuoka-based construction company, since March 2024. He has served as an advisor of several companies, including K Holdings Ltd., a Fukuoka-based real estate developer, since September 2019 and YG Holdings Ltd., a dispensing pharmacy holding company, since May 2022. Mr. Kawaharada obtained a bachelor’s degree in economics from Keio University in March 1982.

Hisashi Ono

Independent Director

Mr. Ono has been an independent director since December 2022. Mr. Ono started his career at International Tours Co., Ltd., now known as H.I.S. Co., Ltd, a Japanese travel agency (“H.I.S”), in May 1984. His last position at H.I.S. was a director responsible for sales department held from November 2000 to January 2004. Mr. Ono founded and has served as the chief executive officer and representative director at Big Field Management Ltd., a management consultancy firm, since January 2004. He has also been a director at Himikana Ltd., a Fukuoka-based company focusing on real estate management and food and beverage business since January 2011. Mr. Ono has extensive experience serving as a corporate auditor in several companies, including, Skymark Co., Ltd., a Japanese airline company (“Skymark”), from October 2005 to September 2015, i Cubed Systems, Inc., a company listed in Tokyo Stock Exchange Growth Market (TYO:4495) providing mobile device management services for businesses (“i Cubed”), from August 2007 to September 2022, and Leifras from March 2021 to December 2022. Mr. Ono graduated from Toho Gakuen Professional Training College, where he specialized in broadcast engineering, in March 1978.

Masakazu Arimori

Independent Director

Mr. Arimori has served as an independent director since March 2022. From November 2004 to September 2015, Mr. Arimori served as the chief financial officer and then the chief operating officer of Skymark, where he was responsible for the airline’s finance, accounting, corporate planning, and overall management. From December 2015 to March 2018, he was an executive vice president and the chief financial officer at AirAsia Japan Ltd., a low-cost airline joint venture between Malaysian AirAsia, a multinational low-cost airline, and Japanese partners. In April 2018, Mr. Arimori joined i Cubed as the chief financial officer, later becoming the chief investment officer, where he handles finance, corporate planning, and corporate venture capital initiatives until September 2024. He was a director of i Cubed Ventures, Inc., a corporate venture capital firm from November 2021 to September 2024 and has served as a board chairman of i Cubed Foundation, a general incorporated foundation contributing to environmental preservation, since April 2021. Mr. Arimori obtained a bachelor’s degree in law from Kobe University in Hyogo, Japan in March 1979.

Kazutaka Nakatsuji

Independent Director

Mr. Nakatsuji has served as an independent director since December 2022. Mr. Nakatsuji is a certified public accountant in Japan and has over 20 years of experience in accounting and auditing. He has also been a registered tax specialist in Japan since December 2011. Since October 2011, he has been the representative certified public accountant at Nakatsuji Maguchi CPA Office (now FPC Accounting LLC). From July 2012 to July 2018, he was a corporate auditor at Raccoon Ltd. (now Raccoon Holdings Ltd., “Raccoon”) and subsequently as a director and member of its audit and supervisory committee from July 2018 to July 2020. Since March 2014, he has been a partner at Frontier Partner Crowd Audit Corporation. Since June 2016, he has been a senior partner at FPC Accounting LLC, specializing in financial accounting consulting. Before becoming our director, he was our external corporate auditor from June 2022 to December 2022. He has been the director of KNCM Advisory, a financial accounting consultancy firm, since July 2012. Mr. Nakatsuji obtained a bachelor of science degree from Waseda University in March 1994.

Kazuko Ito

Independent Director

Ms. Ito has served as an independent director since April 2024. Ms. Ito has been serving as the chief executive officer of Pastellabo Ltd., a communication consultancy firm, where she oversees planning and consulting services since April 1991. In December 2005, she also became the representative of STAND, a Japanese Specified Nonprofit Corporation, focusing on the promotion of parasports. Ms. Ito obtain a bachelor’s degree in engineering from Niigata University in Niigata prefecture, Japan, in March 1985.

Yasuko Maita

Independent Director

Ms. Maita has served as an independent director since March 2025. Before joining Leifras, Ms. Maita was a partner at Nishimura & Asahi from July 2013 to June 2022. She also founded Maita Law Office, her personal law firm a legal professional corporation, and served as a representative from June 2022 to March 2024. She has been a partner at Maita Law Office since March 2024. Ms. Maita has served as an audit and supervisory committee member at the board of directors of i Cubed since September 2022. She also served as a corporate auditor at Kumamoto Electric Railway Co., Ltd., a Kyushu-based railway route bus and chartered bus operator, since June 2022, and at Fukuoka Capital Partners Co., Ltd., a Fukuoka-based private equity firm engaging in real estate investments and fund formation and management, since June 2023. Ms. Maita obtained a bachelor’s degree in law from Keio University in March 1996.

Ryo Ishikawa

Independent Director

Mr. Ishikawa has served as an independent director since March 2025. Mr. Ishikawa has been a professional golfer since January 2008. With four wins on the Japan Golf Tour in 2009, Mr. Ishikawa became the youngest golfer ever to reach the top 50 of the Official World Golf Rankings in September 2009. Since May 2017, he has served as a director of the Taiyo to Kodomo Project, a non-profit organization which plans and organizes sport events and interaction events between professional athletes and children. Additionally, Mr. Ishikawa also has served as a vice chairman of Japan Golf Tour Players Association since January 2024. Mr. Ishikawa graduated from Suginami Gakuin High School in Tokyo in March 2010.