Elisa Bolognesi
President
Born in 1974, awarded a diploma in languages, she’s worked in the tourist
field for 8 years and later 2 years as a foreign sales manager for an important fashion house; nowadays she’s involved in sales promotion and marketing for some spa hotels at Abano Terme and cooperates in Inartis projects.
Throughout the years she’s developed the passion for the Orient, particularly for Japan, which she first discovered by performing Reiki.

Silvio Franceschinelli
Vice-President
Born in Padua on January 16th 1973, after graduation in accountancy, he discovers that his destiny lies elsewhere and more precisely in languages.
He spends various years abroad; on his CV we find Slovenia, Australia and Japan. He deepends his knowledge of languages at the universities of Padua, Lubiana and Osaka; from this last experience in Japan, where for two years he teaches Italian in a private school, his passion for the Orient leads him to collaborate with Higan.
In 2003 he sets up, and from then on runs the Linguistic and Cultural Institute Il Mulino in Legnaro, meeting point for Italians that study Japanese and Japanese that study Italian.

Jean-Marc Windholz
Treasurer/Secretary
He was born in Switzerland in 1971. His training at the Polytechnic of Lausanne highlighted his creative and managing skills in the field of communication technologies. He’s just 16 years old when he establishes his first software business, Adept Development, specialized in the most advanced technologies of virtual reality image synthesis which he still manages. He completes his training with studies in the Marketing and commercial Psychology fields. In 1999 he founds Inartis Srl at Abano Terme, a company that, among its many services, is also working at various projects for the tourist development of the Abano Terme thermal area.

Yoshie Nishioka
International relashionships manager
Born in Osaka on the 6th of September 1978, she shows a keen interest towards both Japanese and Italian history and culture. Yoshie graduates in Italian language and civilization at the International University of Osaka, she also deepens her studies at the University for Foreigners in Siena.
Since 2003 she teaches Japanese at Il Mulino, since 2004 she is the President of the friendship association Italy-Japan OCHACAFFE', that proposes to make Nippon culture well known in Italy through events, movies, meetings and debates.

Elisabetta Grosso
Born in 1979, she graduated in 2004 in Oriental Cultures and Languages (Japanese, Archaeological and Artistic Specialisation) with a thesis on Japanese design and handcraft. She specialises in some of the most ancient hand crafted arts in Japan, e.g. urushi and washi (Japanese varnish and paper).
Starting from this, she has the idea and later runs the “Ikiya” project, a shop opened in 2005.