Hayato Watanabe is a global affiliate visiting scholar at the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (Shorenstein APARC) for 2017-18.  Watanabe is assistant chief at the Hamamatsu Iwata Shinkin Bank.  He has over 15 years of experience in supporting small businesses especially in the area of expansion.  To help revitalize regional economy, his research will focus on bridging the regional specialty manufacturing industry and American companies.