In 2025, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. and Airborne Capital Limited formed Daiwa Airborne Inc., a joint venture managed by the below team:
Yoichi Hirotani
Daiwa-Airborne CEO
Based in Tokyo, Yoichi leads Airborne Capital’s business development and investor relations activities in Japan, working closely with institutional investors, tax investors, financial institutions, airlines, leasing companies and strategic partners to expand aircraft investment opportunities in the Japanese market.
Prior to joining ACL, Yoichi held senior leadership positions in the aviation finance and financial services sectors, developing extensive experience in aircraft leasing, structured finance, and alternative investments. Throughout his career, he has built strong relationships with leading Japanese investors and has played a key role in introducing aviation investment products to the Japanese market.
He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of Tokyo and an MBA from The University of Texas.
Fumihiro Honda
Credit Risk
Fumihiro Honda joined Daiwa Airborne in February 2026 as a credit analyst on practice. After working at Mitsui Bank (now Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation), he joined Japan Credit Rating Agency (JCR) in 1996. Responsible for the evaluation of asset finance transactions (e.g. aircraft, shipping, etc.) and also cashflow based finance transactions (e.g. project finance, corporate securitization, receivables securitization, etc.). He is a Certified Member Analyst (CMA, CIIA) of the Securities Analysts Association of Japan (SAAJ), and graduated with a Master’s Degree in Economics from Chiba University.
Kazuki Yoshida
Commercial
Kazuki has over 12 years of experience working in the aviation and leasing sectors. Kazuki began his career in Jackson Square Aviation and its shareholder, Mitsubishi UFJ Lease & Finance, where he held roles across functions such as structured finance, technical, risk management, and capital markets. Immediately before joining Airborne, Kazuki was a project manager primarily focused on developing JOL opportunties / products, and managing JOL investors. Kazuki holds a B.A. in Business and Commerce from the Otaru University of Commerce.
Masafumi Hayashi
Commercial
Masa has nearly 20 years of experience in the aircraft and engine leasing business. Before joining Airborne, Masa worked at Sumitomo Corporation and gained experience through secondments at SMBC Aviation Capital (3 years), SMBC Aviation Capital (5 years), and Sumitomo Mitsui Finance & Leasing Co., Ltd. (6 years), with a particular focus on the JOL business. Masa was awarded by Airline Economics as the “Future Leader” among the “40 under 40” class in 2024.
Tomohiro Ishii
Corporate
Tomohiro Ishii has over 8 years of experience in the aviation industry and joins Daiwa Airborne in a corporate leadership role. Tomohiro brings with him experience across aviation finance, leasing, and corporate management. Prior to Daiwa Airborne, he worked at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and MC Aviation Partners, where he was involved in finance, accounting, and restructuring initiatives, as well as supporting aviation-related projects.
Toshi Matsuda
Commercial
Toshi has over 15 years of aircraft leasing and financing experience. Prior to joining Airborne, Toshi held the role as a Vice President at the Development Bank of Japan (DBJ), where he helped its aviation practice grow to be one of the most significant sources of aviation financing in the region. During his time at DBJ, Toshi fostered a broad network of local and international investors over a full spectrum of aircraft financing transactions in Japan.
Toshinobu Itagaki
Technical
Toshinobu has over 30 years of experience in the aviation industry, beginning his career at Japan Air System (now Japan Airlines). He has held technical roles within the engineering section, specializing in avionics engineering, modification, and project management. He also participated in the preparation for the A350 and the A321P2F project of Yamato Transport. Since December 2022, he had been with SkyDrive Inc., where he was responsible for preparing a customer support organization for eVTOL and coordinating with the aviation authority.
Yuya Kato
Corporate
Yuya Kato began his career at Daiwa Securities, where he was engaged in the planning, proposal and development of derivative-linked structured bonds. In addition to capital markets activities, he arranged trust-based asset-based lending (ABL) solutions and played a key role in introducing new financial schemes. Through these experiences, Yuya has developed strong hands-on expertise in structuring and executing complex financial products, combining derivatives, credit, and bespoke financing structures.