Managing Director
Kiyoaki Aburaki

Kiyo understands the Japanese business community inside and out from his three decades working for Japan’s most powerful business organization, Keidanren. He covers international trade and investment, defense and aerospace, information technology, entrepreneurship, deregulation and data privacy policy. He also played a leading role in developing and implementing political strategies for the private sector.
Kiyo has led Keidanren’s strategic international initiatives since 2013, and most recently headed up the federation’s international engagement. He worked closely with former Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda to establish Japan’s Track 1.5 dialogues with the United States and China. The dialogues produced important results by strengthening the U.S.-Japan security and economic alliance and improving Japan’s political relations with China.
From 2010 to 2012, Kiyo represented Keidanren and its affiliated think tank, the 21st Century Public Policy Institute, in Washington, D.C. Here he played a key role in several projects at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) such as U.S.-Japan defense industrial cooperation and China’s competitiveness and its reliance on the U.S. and Japan.
Kiyo is senior associate of CSIS and is affiliated with Keidanren as senior director of the Keidanren Strategic International Initiative. He obtained a Master of Science in political science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Bachelor of Arts in economics from Keio University.
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Prior Professional Experience
- Senior Associate, Center for Strategic International Studies (Current)
- Senior Director for Strategic International Initiative, Keidanren (Current)
- Head for Political Affairs Group, Keidanren
- Fellow, MIT Japan Program, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
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Areas of Expertise
Geographic
- China
- Japan
- USA
Industries
- Aerospace & Avitation
- Automotive
- Autonomous Vehicles
- Biotechnology
- Defense
- E-Commerce
- Electronics
- Energy
- Government Affairs
- ICT
- Public Relations
- Technology
- Telecommunications
- Think Tank
Functional Expertise
- Communications
- Corporate Affairs
- Corporate Social Responsibility
- Government
- Government Affairs
- Policy
- Public Affairs
- Research & Development
- Trade
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Education
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1998)— Master of Science in Political Science
- Keio University (1989)— Bachelor of Economics
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Selected Publications and Presentations
- "China’s Competitiveness: Myth, Reality and Lessons for the US and Japan" - Center for Strategic and International Studies, 29 January 2013

Insights & News From Kiyoaki Aburaki


Trump-Ishiba Summit Reshapes US-Japan Playbook on Security, Trade and Investment
The BGA Japan Team, led by Managing Director Kiyoaki “Kiyo” Aburaki, wrote an update to clients on …

Japan’s Ruling Party Loses its Majority in the General Election, Likely Resulting in Period of Political Jockeying
Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) led by Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba saw its seat count …

Shigeru Ishiba Elected To Be Japan’s New Prime Minister
The BGA Japan team, led by Managing Director Kiyoaki Aburaki, wrote an update to clients …