Shigeru FURUICHI
Director for Defense Affairs Aerospace and Defense Industry Division Manufacturing Industries Bureau
Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI)

Since joining to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), he has engaged in the field of industrial policy and international policy in over 30 years.

From 2005 to 2008, he was seconded to the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) and stationed in the United States as the Chief Representative of the Washington D.C. Office of the Manufactured Imports and Investment Promotion Organization (MIPRO).

After returning to METI, he served as Deputy Director in several divisions and office, including the Iron and Steel Division of the Manufacturing Industries Bureau, the Technical Cooperation Division of the Trade and Economic Cooperation Bureau, the Policy Planning and Coordination Division of the International Trade Policy Bureau, the Russia, Central-Asia and Caucasus Office of the International Trade Policy Bureau, and the Creative Industry Division of the Commerce and Information Policy Bureau.

In 2017, he was appointed Director for Trade and Investment in the Americas Division of the International Trade Policy Bureau, where he contributed to strengthening Japan-U.S. bilateral relations through cooperation with SELECT USA, which promotes direct investment in the United States, and through projects to promote grassroots exchanges between Japan and the United States.

From 2019 to 2021, he was seconded to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF), where he was responsible for promoting the export of Japanese food and agricultural products as Director for Export Strategy in the Trade Planning Division of the Food Industry Bureau.

From 2021 to 2024, he was dispatched to the Fukushima Soso Revitalization Promotion Organization, where, as the Head of the Regional Urban Development Group, he contributed to the formulation and implementation of reconstruction and revitalization policies of the 12 municipalities in the coast region of Fukushima Prefecture affected by the nuclear power plant accident in 2011.

Since returning to METI in 2024, he has been in charge of defense industrial policy as Director for Defense Affairs in the Aerospace and Defense Industry Division.