Toshinori Oba

Toshinori Oba is a global affiliate visiting scholar at the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (Shorenstein APARC) for 2026-27. Oba has worked at Hamamatsu Iwata Shinkin Bank, a regional financial institution in Shizuoka, Japan, where he has been involved in supporting local companies, startups, and regional innovation. Since 2017, he has been involved in the bank's efforts to connect the Hamamatsu region with the Silicon Valley ecosystem. 

Oba brings important experience as an M&A advisor, supporting companies with M&A transactions, corporate strategies, and exit strategies. From 2018 to 2019, he was seconded to Sumitomo Mitsui banking Corporation, where he was involved in M&A advisory services and corporate financial strategies. He has also supported collaboration among startups, corporation, universities, and government agencies, and has been involved in the development and operation of FUSE, an incubation facility operated by Hamamatsu Iwata Shinkin Bank to support startups and new business creation. 

While at APARC, Oba will research capital and talent circulation in Silicon Valley and Japan, with a particular focus on how startup ecosystems develop, how capital and human resources move within those ecosystems, and why startups in Silicon Valley are able to achieve rapid growth. He will also explore how the Silicon Valley ecosystem can contribute to innovation and sustainable economic development in regional Japan.