Establishment of a Board of Directors and Appointment of a CFO to Strengthen Corporate Governance and Financial Capabilities
Starlight Engine Ltd. (SLE), which is dedicated to the realization of fusion energy, has established a Board of Directors and appointed a Corporate Auditor based on resolutions adopted at its Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders held on September 29, 2026. At the conclusion of the meeting, three new Directors and one Corporate Auditor assumed office, resulting in a structure of five Directors and one Corporate Auditor.
SLE is also pleased to announce that Atsushi Kazama will be appointed Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer (CFO), effective October 1, 2026.
The launch of this new management structure reflects the progress of engineering design and construction preparation for the FAST project, SLE’s fusion energy power generation demonstration plant. It aims to strengthen the Board’s oversight of and advisory to management, as well as SLE’s capital strategy and finance capabilities.
1. Summary of Appointments
Effective September 29, 2026
| Name | New Position | Former Position |
| Kiyoshi Seko*1 | Director | Representative Director |
| Takashi Imai*1 | Director | (Newly appointed) |
| Tetsuya Urimoto | Outside Director | (Newly appointed) |
| Mihoko Shintani | Outside Director | (Newly appointed) |
| Takuma Uenodan*1 | Corporate Auditor | (Newly appointed) |
*1 Serves as a Director or Executive Officer of Kyoto Fusioneering Ltd., the parent company of Starlight Engine.
Effective October 1, 2026
| Name | New Position | Former Position |
| Atsushi Kazama | Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) | (Newly appointed) |
2. Background and Rationale for the New Management Structure
Guided by its mission, “Bringing fusion energy to the world,” SLE is working toward the realization of fusion energy. Aiming to demonstrate fusion power generation in the 2030s with the FAST project power generation demonstration plant, SLE is advancing engineering design—the phase following the conceptual design completed in 2025—under the new executive structure launched in April of this year. SLE also recently welcomed external investors for the first time and raised over JPY 6 billion (USD 37.4 million*2), building a financial foundation to support its technology development.
As engineering design and construction preparation for the FAST project progress, SLE expects to face increasingly sophisticated and complex management decisions in areas such as capital strategy, regulatory affairs, site selection, and supply chain development. In light of this, SLE has decided to transition to a company with a Board of Directors and to launch a new management structure that includes a CFO.
SLE will strengthen the oversight and advisory functions of the Board of Directors and, under the leadership of the CFO, expand its capital policy, fundraising, and financial management functions, putting in place a structure capable of steadily advancing a large-scale project.
Mr. Atsushi Kazama, the incoming CFO, has spent more than 20 years working at the intersection of technology and capital through both investment and finance, with an extensive track record in startup investment, financial strategy, and fundraising. He has deep expertise in formulating the capital strategies and building the investor relationships that deep-tech companies need as they move into the commercialization phase. He is an experienced executive who understands both technology and capital markets and can drive corporate growth.
Sophisticated capital policy and financial strategy are essential for steadily advancing the FAST project and securing the large-scale funding required for its engineering design, construction, and operation. With Mr. Kazama on board, SLE will pursue future large-scale fundraising and the building of strategic partnerships, further strengthening its management foundation for the realization of fusion energy.
Under its new management structure, composed of members with extensive experience and expertise, SLE will continue to steadily advance the FAST project toward the realization of fusion energy.
*2 Based on an exchange rate of USD 1 = JPY 162.
3. New Management Structure
・Directors and Corporate Auditor
| Representative Director | Kiyotaka Kikuchi |
| Directors | Kiyoshi Seko, Takashi Imai Tetsuya Urimoto*3, Mihoko Shintani*3 |
| Corporate Auditor | Takuma Uenodan |
*3 Outside Director
・Executive Leadership Team
| President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) | Kiyotaka Kikuchi |
| Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) | Shuhei Azuma |
| Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer (COO) | Yuto Yoshioka |
| Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) | Kenzo Ibano |
| Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) | Atsushi Kazama |
4. Profiles of New Officers and CFO
Takashi Imai
Director
(Director and Group-CEO, Plasma Heating Group, Kyoto Fusioneering Ltd.)
At Kyoto Fusioneering, Takashi Imai oversaw the company’s entire corporate functions before taking leadership of the Plasma Heating Group, where he currently drives business development. Prior to joining the company, he spent approximately 10 years in corporate management, including serving as Representative Director and CEO of Ace Insurance Japan (now Chubb Insurance Japan). He also worked at Mitsubishi Research Institute, where he was engaged in engineering simulations, including those related to nuclear power.
He holds a Bachelor of Engineering degree from the University of Tokyo, a Master’s degree from Yale University, and an MBA in Financial Engineering from Hitotsubashi University. He is a U.S. Certified Public Accountant (Delaware).
Tetsuya Urimoto
Outside Director
(Investment Group Director, Global Brain Corporation)
At Global Brain Corporation, Tetsuya Urimoto focuses on investing in and supporting startups in the areas of manufacturing digital transformation (DX), AI, and fusion energy.
Prior to joining Global Brain, he spent approximately ten years at Panasonic Corporation. He began his career as a mechanical engineer, leading the design, development, and rugged laptop computers. He subsequently contributed to service and support as well as the promotion of new business initiatives at an overseas sales subsidiary.
Mihoko Shintani
Outside Director
(Partner (Attorney-at-Law), TMI Associates)
Mihoko Shintani was registered as an attorney in 2006 and has spent 20 years at TMI Associates, one of Japan’s five largest law firms. She specializes in Deep Tech, with a focus rooted in the space and defense industries, handling matters spanning intellectual property strategy, new business development, dispute resolution, security and defense, and startup investment. She graduated from Columbia Law School in the U.S. in 2013. Since March 2026, she has served as an outside director of Rapidus Corporation, and also serves on several government policy committees, including the Space Policy Committee.
Takuma Uenodan
Corporate Auditor
(Executive Officer and Chief Corporate Officer (CCO), Kyoto Fusioneering Ltd.)
At Kyoto Fusioneering, Takuma Uenodan is engaged in finance, governance, human resources, and the establishment of overseas subsidiaries. Prior to joining the company, he worked at KPMG in Tokyo and London as a Certified Public Accountant and Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries of Japan, where he was engaged in a wide range of management-related assignments, including audits of global financial institutions in Japan, the United States, and the United Kingdom, IFRS implementation, internal control development, risk management enhancement, KPI development, organizational restructuring, and the valuation of investment projects.
Atsushi Kazama
Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer (CFO)
Over more than 20 years at investment firms and investment banks, Atsushi Kazama has worked at the intersection of technology and capital through both investment and finance. At SoftBank Group, he led financial strategy and financing initiatives aimed at building the foundations for the AI industry, and at SoftBank Vision Fund, he spearheaded investments in startups. At the Innovation Network Corporation of Japan (INCJ), he drove cross-border acquisitions and reorganization of domestic industries through public-private partnerships. He holds a B.A. in Commerce from Keio University.
5. About the FAST Project
FAST (Fusion by Advanced Superconducting Tokamak) is a private-sector-led project in Japan aimed at demonstrating fusion power generation in the 2030s. The project seeks to generate and sustain burning plasma through deuterium–tritium (D–T) fusion reactions, while demonstrating an integrated fusion power generation system that combines energy conversion and fuel cycle technologies. FAST uses a tokamak configuration, drawing on an extensive body of research and experimental data to support cost control and technical risk management. The project has completed its conceptual design phase and is currently progressing with engineering design and preparations for construction.
The FAST project brings together some of Japan’s leading fusion researchers, SLE, and a broad range of participating and supporting companies, including Kyoto Fusioneering, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Electric Power Development (J-POWER), JGC JAPAN Corporation, Hitachi, Fujikura, Furukawa Electric, Marubeni Corporation, Kajima Corporation, Kyocera, Mitsui & Co., Mitsui Fudosan, and Mitsubishi Corporation.
Furthermore, the FAST project promotes research and development through industry-academia collaboration, including a corporate sponsored research program involving the University of Tokyo, SLE and other private-sector partners, as well as joint research initiatives with Tohoku University, Nagoya University, Kyoto University, Kyushu University, and Keio University.
6. About Starlight Engine Ltd.
Starlight Engine (SLE) is a startup dedicated to making fusion energy a reality. Guided by its vision, “POWERING the FUTURE,” SLE aims to expand human potential and help shape the future by developing fusion energy to meet the world’s energy needs. Established in April 2025 as part of the Kyoto Fusioneering group, SLE leads the FAST project, a private-sector-led project bringing together industry and academia to demonstrate fusion power generation in the 2030s. Beyond this demonstration, SLE aims to bring fusion energy to commercial deployment.
SLE plays a central role in the following initiatives:
- From research to real-world deployment: Moving beyond research and development to bring fusion energy into practical use through electricity-generating power plants.
- Integration of plant technologies: Integrating the technologies essential to fusion power plants, including fuel supply, fuel cycle management, energy conversion, safety, and maintenance.
- Building a global fusion industry from Japan: Building fusion plants and establishing supply chains through collaboration among industry, government, and academia to develop a globally competitive fusion industry rooted in Japan.
Company Name: Starlight Engine Ltd.
Head Office: Distribution A Building, AW1-S, Tokyo Ryutsu Center, 6-1-1 Heiwajima, Ota-ku, Tokyo 143-0006, Japan
Marunouchi Office: xLINK Marunouchi Shin-Kokusai, 2F Shin-Kokusai Building, 3-4-1 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-0005, Japan
Representative: Kiyotaka Kikuchi
Business Activities: Research, development, and commercialization of fusion energy power plants
Website: https://sle.energy/en/home/
