Hirotaka Ishii is a corporate affiliate visiting fellow at the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (Shorenstein APARC) for 2016-17.  Prior to joining Shorenstein APARC, he served as deputy director for policy making and implementation at the Government of Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade & Industry (METI), where he was in charge of electricity and gas market reform policy, commerce and consumer affairs policy, and intellectual property policy.  Ishii received his bachelor's degree of economics from Tokyo University in 2005.