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Director-General, Innovation and Environment Policy Bureau

KIKUKAWA Jingo

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Mr. Kikukawa Jingo currently serves as Director-General, Innovation and Environment Policy Bureau at the Ministry of Economy Trade and Industry (METI). Appointed as head of this bureau on July, XX, 2024, Mr. Kikukawa leads Japan’s national innovation strategy and national research and development projects. He also oversees industrial standards and environmental policy, including key Japanese government initiatives to combat climate change.

Immediately prior to his current appointment, Mr. Kikukawa served as Counsellor, Cabinet Secretariat, and Counsellor to the Director-General of the Digital Agency. In these key roles, he helped refine a wide range of policy initiatives covering the whole government and the Prime Minister's Office. Specifically, policies addressing related measures for COVID-19, Green Transformation (GX), and AI strategies. While serving, as Deputy Director-General of the Economic and Industrial Policy Bureau, Mr. Kikukawa helped formulate a major amendment to the Act on Strengthening Industrial Competitiveness and contributed to the expansion of strategic domestic investments through budgetary and taxation measures. In addition, Mr. Kikukawa led efforts to promote innovation through measures such as M&A to support leading medium-sized enterprises.

Since joining METI in 1994, earlier in his career Mr. Kikukawa held a wide range of key positions, such as Deputy Director of the Environmental Policy Division (Policy Planning Committee Member) and served as a Member of the Policy Planning Committee for the Budget and Accounts Division, of the Minister's Secretariat.
While serving as Counselor, Permanent Mission of Japan to the International Organizations in Geneva, Mr. Kikukawa led the trade liberalization negotiations for information and communications equipment as chairperson, which succeeded in reaching agreement. The success of these negotiations resulted in Mr. Kikukawa’s selection as the first Japanese official to be elected chairperson of the WTO Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT Committee).

He has served as Director of the Finance Division of the Small and Medium Enterprise Agency, focusing on fundamental reforms of the credit-guarantee system. Mr. Kikukawa served as secretary to the minister in charge of economic revitalization and the minister in charge of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) dedicated to the enactment of TPP-related laws.
While serving at the Small and Medium Enterprise Agency Mr. Kikukawa oversaw fundamental reform of the taxation of business succession as Director of the Corporate Finance and Tax Affairs Division. Among other legislative achievements, Mr. Kikukawa helped enact the 5G Promotion Act as Director of the IT Industry Division, Commerce and Information Policy Bureau. This assignment was followed by his appointment as Director of the Policy Planning and Coordination Division, Manufacturing Industries Bureau.

A graduate of Kyoto University’s Faculty of Agriculture, Mr. Kikukawa completed the Master of Public Administration (MPA) Course, at the Graduate School of Columbia University, and has been a U.S. Certified Public Accountant(USCPA) since 2023.
He was born on March 13, 1970, in Osaka. 

Last updated:2024-08-15