Nobuko Kato is Chief Communications Officer at Santen. Appointed in October 2021, she is responsible for executive communications, external & internal communications and issues management. Nobuko is also advising the CEO and Executive Management Team on transforming communications and corporate culture in support of the Santen 2030 vision.

Since joining Santen in 2021, Nobuko has directed day-to-day communications as the Global Head of Corporate Communications, strengthening communications and global corporate reputation through increased exposure and recognition of Santen and its CEO.

Nobuko was formerly General Manager, Global Head of Corporate PR at Sony, where she helped to globalize corporate communications and build recognition of Sony as a thought leader by advising the CEO on strategic communications.

Before joining Sony, Nobuko was Vice President, Global Head of External Communications at Takeda Pharmaceutical. She directed communications strategy for the acquisition of Shire, then Japan’s largest-ever M&A, and supported the CEO’s thought leadership at the World Economic Forum. Prior to Takeda, she was Director of Communications for Johnson & Johnson K.K. in Japan.

Prior to this, Nobuko served as a Senior Partnership Specialist in health, nutrition and population for the World Bank in Washington, D.C., and for three years she coordinated the bank’s global partnerships with WHO, OECD, G8, C20 and APEC.

Nobuko began her career in Japan as a TV newscaster, serving as a news anchor for a regional broadcaster and the nationwide NHK network for 10 years.

Nobuko holds a master’s degree in international affairs from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs in New York and a bachelor’s degree in French literature from Sophia University, Tokyo. She became a US-Japan Leadership Program delegate in 2005 and a member of the Scott M. Johnson Fellow of the United States-Japan Foundation.