About Us
CarterJMRN is a Japan-based market research agency guiding leading brands through the journey of unmasking and engaging with the needs, desires and opinions of the Japanese people.
Company History
With offices in Tokyo and Osaka hosting a team of more than 70 full time researchers and 100 staff interviewers, CarterJMRN is a full service Japan-based market research and innovation insights agency. Our history began in 1989 with the founding of the Japan Market Resource Network, which merged with Carter Associates in 2012.
In those more than 30 years we have worked with most of the major international brands to have entered and prospered in Japan. As a proudly multicultural agency, we are known for the cultural depth and effectiveness of our responses to clients’ challenges, applying intelligent and efficient design to deliver actionable outcomes. We work to deliver highly practical, prescriptive and actionable insights, no matter how difficult the challenge seems.
We believe that, although the terrain you face in building a successful marketing strategy and activation path sometimes seems obscure, the path to success is knowable and that the consumer is the guide who will show you the way. Our work is creative and stretching yet grounded in the consumer’s life, their culture and the truths they reveal. We combine the tools of the market research trade with our sense of collaboration, thinking, creativity and boundless enthusiasm to help you create the understandings that drive you to action. Our goal is nothing less than to help you create a successful partnership between your brand and the people who trust it.
The CarterJMRN Family
Debbie Howard
Chairman
Debbie has lived and worked in Japan for over 30 years, and founded JMRN in 1989. Debbie is a specialist in translating qualitative research into clear strategic direction for international clients, and over her career has worked with most major brands that have entered Japan. She served as President of the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan (ACCJ) in 2004 and 2005, Chairman in 2006 and 2007, and continues to serve as ACCJ President Emeritus. Debbie also serves as an advisor to the US-Japan Bridging Foundation, which facilitates study-in-Japan programs for U.S. college students.
Marika Lind
Client Director & Partner
Marika has worked in the insights and strategy area of marketing research for almost 20 years. Marika is a specialist in reaching the heart of the Asian consumer using traditional modes such as focus groups and depth interviews. However newer techniques such as ethnography, semiotics and consumer immersion form an important part of her toolkit, as well as client innovation and immersion workshops, she also creates inspirational multi-media deployment materials. She has lived in both Japan and Singapore and worked extensively across most Asian markets, including Japan, China, Taiwan, Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.
Hideki Motohashi
Senior Client Service Director
Hideki has managed research for the movie and entertainment industry for over 20 years, working with major movie distributors such as Disney Pictures and utilizing a variety of methodologies, including focus groups, in-depth interviews, and central location tests. His extensive experience ensures the delivery of deeper contextual insights to clients. On the rare occasions when he is not delving into the development of new entertainment offerings, Hideki loves enjoying the great outdoors, and is an expert fisherman.
Alejandro Lopez
Project Manager
Alejandro graduated from Texas A&M University with a B.A. in Sociology, after having proudly served for four-and-a-half years in the United States Army National Guard. While in university, he actioned on his dream to experience Japanese culture by securing a 1-year internship living and working in Japan in marketing and marketing research for multinational financial services giant AIG. Alejandro subsequently joined CarterJMRN, where he is honing his qualitative and quantitative research skills in a wide range of categories, including food products and services, digital news, and entertainment, among others.
Asami Kashima
Project Coordinator
After having witnessed the trials and tribulations of SME’s through her 10 years in the Japanese financial industry, Asami joined CarterJMRN in 2019 to focus her efforts on supporting businesses through market research. Her background in both finance and law (she was graduated with a Bachelor’s degree from Meiji Gakuin University’s Faculty of Law in 2008) serve our clients well. Hailing from Yokohama City (a port city, and the original base of foreign trade from the late 1800s), Asami enjoys playing video games and following Japanese anime (short for “animation”, and an umbrella term for all animated works, regardless of style or origin). Her passion and knowledge in these popular cultural past-times are well-utilized on our entertainment-related projects ( including research in the gaming and film industries).
Dominic Carter
Representative Director & CEO
Dominic came to Japan from Australia in the late ’90s to launch the Japan business of a global research consultancy. In 2003, he started what is now The Carter Group, a diversified organisation serving the needs of international businesses looking to realise ambitious goals in the Japanese market. Over the last 25 years he has worked with some of the top brands in the world, fuelling their journeys to success through the expert application of consumer insights across cultural contexts to drive successful marketing strategy. Dominic is a frequent lecturer, guest speaker, trainer, consultant and commentator on all matters to do with consumer insights methodology, social mega-trends and the contemporary Japanese consumer.
Takeshi Tomizawa
Client Service Director
Tomizawa-san is a highly experienced researcher, with particular strength in quantitative research for clients in the luxury and tobacco industries. His quantitative research for these companies helps to revaluate their relevance in the Japanese market, in order for them to discover areas of new opportunity. He also has a flair for the English language, and has a very engaging way of articulating concepts. When not at work, Tomizawa-san loves to play the electric guitar and enjoys seventies rock music.
Shingo Kuwahara
Account Manager
Shingo is a tireless researcher who currently divides his time between our offices in Tokyo and Osaka. When overseeing projects he steers the research towards a quality execution and a thorough collation of results and analyses. Quietly confident in the precision of his methods and careful in managing the research team, Shingo is ready to deal with projects of vast and varied proportions.
Sho Sato
Projector Manager & Moderator
Sho’s international education – including one high school year in Ann Arbor, MI and med school at the University of Pecs in Hungary – gives him the perfect background to assist healthcare and pharma companies with leveraging in the Japanese market. He worked for a medical research company for two years before joining CarterJMRN in 2018. His calm yet engaging manner has led him onward from project management to moderating, where his approachability is a big asset in connecting with medical specialists and patients. Although he also has experience in non-medical categories such as digital and entertainment research, Sho’s deep experience in the healthcare category is impressive and growing. He’s conducted research among a variety of respondent types (i.e., physicians/ KOLs, nurses, pharmacists, patients and caregivers) ranging across the gamut of diseases and conditions (including neurology, oncology, respiratory, bone and joint, ophthalmology, hematology and metabolic disorders). Born and raised in Tokyo, Sho enjoys traveling abroad as well as in Japan, and has even run the Honolulu Marathon. His hobby of photography travels with him, and he has thousands of photos from his trips.
Hanae Tsukimura
Fieldwork Assistant
Hanae joined CarterJMRN after gaining experience in the research industry working in fieldwork for various methodologies (focus groups, IDIs, ethnographic interviews, and Central Location Test studies), as well as categories (including food and beverage, skincare, and tobacco). Prior to the research industry, Hanae spent 10 years working in the fashion retail and beauty industries. Her frontline, onsite research experience combined with her instinctive ability to provide Omotenashi (Japanese hospitality) ensures that logistics related to CarterJMRN’s research are smooth and seamless. Hanae loves fashion, and enjoys shopping on weekends.
Takashi Iizuka
Chief Operating Officer
When it comes to getting things done the right way there is nobody you would rather have on the case than Takashi. He will do whatever it takes to ensure that methods are precise, data is accurate and deadlines are met without any compromise on quality. Having studied in the U.S., he is bilingual and a skilled communicator. He commands a high level of respect from both colleagues and clients or indeed anyone else who has come into contact with his operational expertise. With experience in a leading global research agency and as key manager of a number of high-profile projects in Japan, Takashi is very well placed to handle complex, customized research demands.
Susanne Walloscheck
Client Service Director
Susanne is dedicated to identifying emerging movements in popular culture and translating that information into relevant knowledge for brands and services over the last 17 years. She explores the convergence of brands, products and consumers in order to define and recommend the best route to success in clients’ target markets across Asia. In addition, Susanne was highly engaged, serving as the Chair at the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan (ACCJ). Susanne holds a Master’s degree in Communications Management from the University of Applied Sciences Deutsche Direkmarketing Akademie in Berlin, Germany.
Ken Fujii
Operations Leader
Having our own in-house respondent recruiting and fieldwork department is one of the secrets to CarterJMRN’s success. After all, a critical component of success for our clients is ensuring we’re talking with the most well-qualified and articulate respondents. For Ken, our research participants are far more than an ID number on a spread sheet. They are real people with valued opinions, who make irreplaceable contributions to our gaining deep insights. A native of Tokyo, Ken has perfected his craft over the past 30 years, unearthing and engaging thousands of respondents across industries as diverse as healthcare, gaming, skincare, luxury brands, and robotics for aging in place. In his spare time, Ken enjoys cooking for his family, and we hear he has a vintage sneaker collection that would make Michael Jordan jealous (over 400 pairs!).
Hitomi Uchiyama
Senior Project Manager & Moderator
Hitomi was born and raised in Tokyo, and has worked in the market research industry for 10+ years, following her graduation from Japan Women’s University with a BA in Human Sciences and Design. Her experience in moderating crosses a wide range of categories, from daily beverage brands to medical and healthcare, in which she specialized for six years. Currently, she conducts online as well as offline FGIs and IDI. Her calm and friendly moderation creates a comfortable feeling among respondents, encouraging them to discuss openly. Hitomi works hard using her skills to gain deep insights that connect with strategic planning. In her spare time, she enjoys surfing, gardening, and traveling new places.
James Norton
Project Manager
While pursuing a B.S. in International Business Studies at Temple University Japan in 2019, James joined CarterJMRN as an intern. He quickly demonstrated his penchant for mining data and building more robust content, as well as improving utilization of other digital corporate assets. It’s not surprising once you know that James was born in Sasebo, Japan, raised internationally, and pre-Temple, served for 10 years as a Self-Defense Weapons Technician in the US Navy. Working as a military liaison for several SME’s, he learned the importance of inter-agency coordination and systems operations. In his spare time, James enjoys playing video games, tinkering with gadgets and electronics, and reading isekai (psychological thriller) manga (comic books).
Debbie Howard
Chairman
Debbie has lived and worked in Japan for over 30 years, and founded JMRN in 1989. Debbie is a specialist in translating qualitative research into clear strategic direction for international clients, and over her career has worked with most major brands that have entered Japan. She served as President of the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan (ACCJ) in 2004 and 2005, Chairman in 2006 and 2007, and continues to serve as ACCJ President Emeritus. Debbie also serves as an advisor to the US-Japan Bridging Foundation, which facilitates study-in-Japan programs for U.S. college students.
Dominic Carter
Representative Director & CEO
Dominic came to Japan from Australia in the late ’90s to launch the Japan business of a global research consultancy. In 2003, he started what is now The Carter Group, a diversified organisation serving the needs of international businesses looking to realise ambitious goals in the Japanese market. Over the last 25 years he has worked with some of the top brands in the world, fuelling their journeys to success through the expert application of consumer insights across cultural contexts to drive successful marketing strategy. Dominic is a frequent lecturer, guest speaker, trainer, consultant and commentator on all matters to do with consumer insights methodology, social mega-trends and the contemporary Japanese consumer.
Takashi Iizuka
Chief Operating Officer
When it comes to getting things done the right way there is nobody you would rather have on the case than Takashi. He will do whatever it takes to ensure that methods are precise, data is accurate and deadlines are met without any compromise on quality. Having studied in the U.S., he is bilingual and a skilled communicator. He commands a high level of respect from both colleagues and clients or indeed anyone else who has come into contact with his operational expertise. With experience in a leading global research agency and as key manager of a number of high-profile projects in Japan, Takashi is very well placed to handle complex, customized research demands.
Marika Lind
Client Director & Partner
Marika has worked in the insights and strategy area of marketing research for almost 20 years. Marika is a specialist in reaching the heart of the Asian consumer using traditional modes such as focus groups and depth interviews. However newer techniques such as ethnography, semiotics and consumer immersion form an important part of her toolkit, as well as client innovation and immersion workshops, she also creates inspirational multi-media deployment materials. She has lived in both Japan and Singapore and worked extensively across most Asian markets, including Japan, China, Taiwan, Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.
Takeshi Tomizawa
Client Service Director
Tomizawa-san is a highly experienced researcher, with particular strength in quantitative research for clients in the luxury and tobacco industries. His quantitative research for these companies helps to revaluate their relevance in the Japanese market, in order for them to discover areas of new opportunity. He also has a flair for the English language, and has a very engaging way of articulating concepts. When not at work, Tomizawa-san loves to play the electric guitar and enjoys seventies rock music.
Susanne Walloscheck
Client Service Director
Susanne is dedicated to identifying emerging movements in popular culture and translating that information into relevant knowledge for brands and services over the last 17 years. She explores the convergence of brands, products and consumers in order to define and recommend the best route to success in clients’ target markets across Asia. In addition, Susanne was highly engaged, serving as the Chair at the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan (ACCJ). Susanne holds a Master’s degree in Communications Management from the University of Applied Sciences Deutsche Direkmarketing Akademie in Berlin, Germany.
Hideki Motohashi
Senior Client Service Director
Hideki has managed research for the movie and entertainment industry for over 20 years, working with major movie distributors such as Disney Pictures and utilizing a variety of methodologies, including focus groups, in-depth interviews, and central location tests. His extensive experience ensures the delivery of deeper contextual insights to clients. On the rare occasions when he is not delving into the development of new entertainment offerings, Hideki loves enjoying the great outdoors, and is an expert fisherman.
Shingo Kuwahara
Account Manager
Shingo is a tireless researcher who currently divides his time between our offices in Tokyo and Osaka. When overseeing projects he steers the research towards a quality execution and a thorough collation of results and analyses. Quietly confident in the precision of his methods and careful in managing the research team, Shingo is ready to deal with projects of vast and varied proportions.
Ken Fujii
Operations Leader
Having our own in-house respondent recruiting and fieldwork department is one of the secrets to CarterJMRN’s success. After all, a critical component of success for our clients is ensuring we’re talking with the most well-qualified and articulate respondents. For Ken, our research participants are far more than an ID number on a spread sheet. They are real people with valued opinions, who make irreplaceable contributions to our gaining deep insights. A native of Tokyo, Ken has perfected his craft over the past 30 years, unearthing and engaging thousands of respondents across industries as diverse as healthcare, gaming, skincare, luxury brands, and robotics for aging in place. In his spare time, Ken enjoys cooking for his family, and we hear he has a vintage sneaker collection that would make Michael Jordan jealous (over 400 pairs!).
Alejandro Lopez
Project Manager
Alejandro graduated from Texas A&M University with a B.A. in Sociology, after having proudly served for four-and-a-half years in the United States Army National Guard. While in university, he actioned on his dream to experience Japanese culture by securing a 1-year internship living and working in Japan in marketing and marketing research for multinational financial services giant AIG. Alejandro subsequently joined CarterJMRN, where he is honing his qualitative and quantitative research skills in a wide range of categories, including food products and services, digital news, and entertainment, among others.
Sho Sato
Projector Manager & Moderator
Sho’s international education – including one high school year in Ann Arbor, MI and med school at the University of Pecs in Hungary – gives him the perfect background to assist healthcare and pharma companies with leveraging in the Japanese market. He worked for a medical research company for two years before joining CarterJMRN in 2018. His calm yet engaging manner has led him onward from project management to moderating, where his approachability is a big asset in connecting with medical specialists and patients. Although he also has experience in non-medical categories such as digital and entertainment research, Sho’s deep experience in the healthcare category is impressive and growing. He’s conducted research among a variety of respondent types (i.e., physicians/ KOLs, nurses, pharmacists, patients and caregivers) ranging across the gamut of diseases and conditions (including neurology, oncology, respiratory, bone and joint, ophthalmology, hematology and metabolic disorders). Born and raised in Tokyo, Sho enjoys traveling abroad as well as in Japan, and has even run the Honolulu Marathon. His hobby of photography travels with him, and he has thousands of photos from his trips.
Hitomi Uchiyama
Senior Project Manager & Moderator
Hitomi was born and raised in Tokyo, and has worked in the market research industry for 10+ years, following her graduation from Japan Women’s University with a BA in Human Sciences and Design. Her experience in moderating crosses a wide range of categories, from daily beverage brands to medical and healthcare, in which she specialized for six years. Currently, she conducts online as well as offline FGIs and IDI. Her calm and friendly moderation creates a comfortable feeling among respondents, encouraging them to discuss openly. Hitomi works hard using her skills to gain deep insights that connect with strategic planning. In her spare time, she enjoys surfing, gardening, and traveling new places.
Asami Kashima
Project Coordinator
After having witnessed the trials and tribulations of SME’s through her 10 years in the Japanese financial industry, Asami joined CarterJMRN in 2019 to focus her efforts on supporting businesses through market research. Her background in both finance and law (she was graduated with a Bachelor’s degree from Meiji Gakuin University’s Faculty of Law in 2008) serve our clients well. Hailing from Yokohama City (a port city, and the original base of foreign trade from the late 1800s), Asami enjoys playing video games and following Japanese anime (short for “animation”, and an umbrella term for all animated works, regardless of style or origin). Her passion and knowledge in these popular cultural past-times are well-utilized on our entertainment-related projects ( including research in the gaming and film industries).
Hanae Tsukimura
Fieldwork Assistant
Hanae joined CarterJMRN after gaining experience in the research industry working in fieldwork for various methodologies (focus groups, IDIs, ethnographic interviews, and Central Location Test studies), as well as categories (including food and beverage, skincare, and tobacco). Prior to the research industry, Hanae spent 10 years working in the fashion retail and beauty industries. Her frontline, onsite research experience combined with her instinctive ability to provide Omotenashi (Japanese hospitality) ensures that logistics related to CarterJMRN’s research are smooth and seamless. Hanae loves fashion, and enjoys shopping on weekends.
James Norton
Project Manager
While pursuing a B.S. in International Business Studies at Temple University Japan in 2019, James joined CarterJMRN as an intern. He quickly demonstrated his penchant for mining data and building more robust content, as well as improving utilization of other digital corporate assets. It’s not surprising once you know that James was born in Sasebo, Japan, raised internationally, and pre-Temple, served for 10 years as a Self-Defense Weapons Technician in the US Navy. Working as a military liaison for several SME’s, he learned the importance of inter-agency coordination and systems operations. In his spare time, James enjoys playing video games, tinkering with gadgets and electronics, and reading isekai (psychological thriller) manga (comic books).
Interested in joining the team?
Our goal is nothing less than to help you create a successful partnership between your brand and the people who trust it.