Our Independent Directors

Masazumi Ishii Independent Director	Independent Director Masazumi Ishii is founder and Managing Director of AZCA, Inc., a professional services firm based in Menlo Park, California, specializing in Japan and Asia Pacific corporate development for high technology ventures. He has over 25 years of experience in international business and high technology. Mr. Ishii is also a Managing Director of Noventi, a Menlo Park venture capital firm, and an active venture investor in emerging technology companies during the past 15 years. Previously, Mr. Ishii has worked as a senior management consultant at McKinsey & Company, Inc. and systems engineer at IBM. Mr. Ishii serves on the board and the advisory board of several multinational companies, and is a frequent speaker and writer on international business development in the high technology industry. He is also a visiting professor at Shizuoka University in Japan. Nominations and Governance Committee: Member Compensation Committee: Member Merger and Acquisition Committee: Co-Chairman
Eric La Cara Independent Director	Canadian Eric La Cara brings over ten years of Financial Management and Consulting experience in Japan to the Board. As Managing Director of Aviso Group Inc, his responsibilities include developing General Operating Procedures as well as overseeing the firm's Accounting & Tax services. During his professional career, Mr. La Cara served as Corporate Controller for the Finance & Accounting division of L'Oreal Cosmetics in Japan. His responsibilities included supervising cross-functional brands and teams for nine different L'Oreal subsidiaries. During his employment with L'Oreal, he updated the firm's accounting rules in order to meet new IFRS norms, as well as oversee external, internal and transfer pricing audits. During his tenure, Mr. La Cara also supervised L'Oreal treasury functions and $100 million hedge portfolio. In Japan, Mr. La Cara has also served as CFO of Paris based Le Club Des Createurs De Beaute Japon and finance manager for Silicon Valley based Synopsys Inc. (Nasdaq: SNPS). Mr. La Cara has a MBA in Finance from McGill University, and is a member of the National Association of Corporate Directors and is a certified corporate director. Audit Committee: Chairman Nominations and Governance Committee: Member Compensation Committee: Chairman Merger and Acquisition Committee: Member
Brian Nelson Independent Director	Independent Director Brian Nelson is Chief Executive Officer of ValueCommerce, a leading Internet sales and marketing company in Japan. As CEO, Mr. Nelson negotiated and completed a TOB (Tender Offer Bid) with YAHOO! Japan in 2005. In 2006, Mr. Nelson led ValueCommerce to a highly successful IPO resulting in ValueCommerce achieving a market capitalization of more than $300 million. Brian has extensive experience and skills in operations, sales, consulting, marketing, and senior management positions. Prior to ValueCommerce, Mr. Nelson was Director of Sales and Marketing for the Gallup Organization in Japan. He also worked in Business Development with a non-life insurer, Tokyo Marine and Fire Insurance and as a sales executive for Ashisuto, a Japan computer software company. He graduated from the American School in Japan, before completing a Business Administration Degree at the University of Southern California. Mr. Nelson is a frequent public speaker on business matters concerning Japan and entrepreneurship. He has been a resident of Japan since 1990 and is a fluent Japanese speaker. Audit Committee: Member Nominations and Governance Committee: Chairman Merger and Acquisition Committee: Member
Meiko Towada Independent Director	Meiko Towada founded Esampo.com in 2000 and currently serves as Chief Executive Officer of Esampo.com and Atpark.co.jp. From 1997-1999, Ms. Towada worked at Walt Disney Television International (Asia Pacific) in Hong Kong, where she was the Regional Marketing Manager responsible for launching the Disney Channel for the Japanese market and also marketing Disney programs in China and Southeast Asia. Prior to joining Disney, Ms. Towada worked as a senior consultant for At Kearney based out of Hong Kong and for the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) in Tokyo, Japan. As a consultant, she focused on market entry strategies for Japan and Greater China for US firms representing a variety of industries including FMCG business. She holds a MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and a BA from International Christian University in Japan. Ms. Towada is Japanese with Chinese heritage, bilingual in English and Japanese and fluent in Mandarin Chinese and conversational Cantonese. Audit Committee: Member Compensation Committee: Member Merger and Acquisition Committee: Member