Japan Business Desk

Email : mukesh.agarwal@pwc.com

Mobile : +91 98 1147 5360

Mukesh is a partner in the Deals practice of PwC India with over 24 years of experience in mergers & acquisitions and consulting, including more than 20 years in financial advisory.
 

He specialises in buy-side and sell-side due diligence, transaction support, and other M&A-related services.
 

He has led financial due diligence in large number of domestic and cross-border transactions (inbound and outbound), for strategic and financial investors across a wide spectrum of industry sectors.
 

Mukesh was seconded to PwC Japan for three years, based out of Tokyo, where he provided extensive Deals and Transaction Services (TS) support to Japanese clients.
 

He currently leads the Japan Business Desk (JBD) at PwC India, working closely with Japanese clients on M&A, Market entry and other business strategies, Consulting, and broader business support with tailored solution to help them navigate and succeed in the Indian market.
 

Education:

• Chartered Accountant, Institute of Chartered Accountants of India

• Advanced Management Programme, Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore

• Bachelor of Commerce (Hons.), University of Delhi

Taizo Iwashima is a Partner of Japanese Business Desk, PwC India. He was seconded from PwC Japan from October 2023.

After joining the former Aoyama Audit Corporation (Price Waterhouse Japan) in 1991, he was engaged in audit of a large chemical manufacturer listed in the Japanese market and a multinational IT company for seven years in the firm’s Tokyo Office before being relocated to PwC’s San Jose Office (US) for three years from 1998. While in the US, Taizo was involved in the audit of Japanese companies and US high-tech companies located in along the West Coast in addition to providing IPO support services to these clients. After returning to Tokyo in 2001, he has joined Deals practice of PwC Japan group to specialise in M&A advisory services including financial due diligence, post deal services, Financial Advisory and Deals Strategy. As a Deals Advisory partner, Taizo has abundant cross-border M&A experiences. He has experienced number of leadership roles in PwC Japan, such as COO of Advisory, Deals Market Leader, Corporate Finance Leader and Deals Strategy Leader. Taizo also used to be the India Desk Leader for PwC Japan from 2011 through 2017.

In the recent years before the international assignment to India, he has taken roles in PwC Japan which include the Global Lead Account Partner of one of PwC’s global 200 priority clients, PwC’s JBN (Japanese Business Network) APAC Regional Leader and a board member of PwC Japan.

Taizo is a Certified Public Accountant in Japan.

Tomoyuki Fukuhara has been involved in financial audit, internal control audits (US-SOX/J-SOX). He also provides advisory services related to improvement of internal control process, internal-audit co-sourcing and enhancing risk management for Japanese companies. He was seconded to join the PwC Advisory in 2008 and involved in business recovery service such as business planning support and financial due diligence. He was also sent to PwC Korea from 2014 supporting Japanese companies in Korea from accounting, tax and governance perspectives. He returned in October 2016 and provides various services to the listed companies. He has been seconded to PwC India since September 2022. 

Yoshitaka Ono is a Director in our Deals, Advisory practice and Japan Business Desk. He has been seconded from PwC Japan from January 2024 onwards. He has more than 13 years of M&A advisory experience.

He joined PwC in July 2015. Prior to joining PwC, he worked in a leading bank for over 10 years.

He has provided M&A advisory services to Japanese clients from various sectors – acquisition, fundraising with investors for renewable energy power plants, establishment and dissolution of JVs, investments in onshore wind assets, sale of data center assets, liquidation services, etc.

He is based out of our Gurgaon office and will be serving as a Director for our Deals, Advisory practice and Japan Business Desk. 

Email: taichi.z.zakimi@pwc.com

Taichi Zakimi has been involved in auditing and other financial advisory engagements including IFRS implementation for many listed companies of various kinds of industries for more than 15 years. In addition, he is experienced in providing advisory services for pre-IPO companies to address issues faced by them on their path toward an IPO and their preparations for being a listed company after the IPO.

Taichi has been assigned to PwC India, in the Bangalore office as a manager since September 2019. As a part of the Japan Business Desk of PwC India, he is supporting Japanese companies in India from assurance, tax and advisory perspectives.

He is a member of Japanese Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

Keisuke has served as a security engineer with over nine years of experience. He has also served as a security consultant with over 8 years of experience managing design security architecture for OT security and ZTA, and lead security assessment to describe clients’ security journey. Skilled with MITRE ATT&CK for ICS, NIST 800 seriese, CSF, ISO27001/27002, and STRIDE. In addition, Keisuke has experience with building SOC/CSIRT to globalize Japanese companies.
 

Keisuke also has worked in the USA for three years as a sales engineer and was in charge of proposal/implementation support to large Japanese companies.
 

He joined PwC in July 2020. He has provided advisory services to Japanese clients expanding their global operations, covering areas such as security assessments, OT security, Zero Trust Architecture (ZTA) migration, and the development of SOC/CSIRT capabilities.
 

He is based out of our Bengaluru office and works for the Cyber Security practice and the Japan Business Desk.

Kazuyuki Kameda is a senior manager in the Japan Business Desk (JBD) of PwC India and is based out of Gurgaon.

He is a qualified Certified Public Accountant with 11 years of experience of assurance in PwC Japan 

Kazuyuki Kameda joined PwC Japan assurance department in 2014. He has been involved in financial audits and internal control audits (US-SOX/J-SOX). And he also provides advisory services related to improvement of internal control process, internal-audit co-sourcing and enhancing risk management for Japanese companies. He has experience in both publicly listed and privately held companies in a wide range of industries, including manufacturing, communications, advertising, education, software, and theme parks, and has conducted audits with a thorough understanding of the relationship between Japanese parent companies and overseas subsidiaries. He started the international assignment to PwC India Gurgaon office from September 2025 as a senior manager. 

As a JBD member of PwC India, he is supporting Japanese companies in India for Audit, Risk Assurance, Tax, Deals, Business strategy and other lines of services.

Kazuyuki Takeda is a Tax Manager in Deals Tax Group of PwC Tax Japan since February 2017.

Since joining PwC, he has provided consulting services for tax due diligence and tax structuring for M&A transactions as well as providing tax advisory services concerning domestic and cross-border reorganizations, international tax, tax compliance services for Japanese companies.

He has been assigned to PwC India as a Manager in the Japan Business Desk of PwC India since February 2023. He will be working out of our Mumbai office and will be responsible for supporting Japanese companies from assurance, tax and advisory perspectives in the Western region.

He is also a Japanese Certified Public Tax Accountant.

Yuki Tanaka is a manager of the Japan Business Desk, and has been assigned to that role since July 2022. He has over 10 years of technology presales and consulting experience and five years of business development and program management experience in launching services.

At PwC India, he delivers PwC India's comprehensive solutions to Japanese companies all over India from a deal advisory and consulting perspective.

Moe Sonoda has been in international taxation/Deals Tax Group of PwC Tax Japan since 2024. 
 

Since joining PwC, she has provided consulting services for tax due diligence and tax structuring for M&A transactions as well as providing tax advisory services concerning domestic and cross-border reorganisations, international tax, tax compliance services including Pillar2 for Japanese companies.
 

She has been assigned to PwC India as an assistant manager in the Japan Business Desk of PwC India since August 2025. She will be working out of our Gurgaon office and will be responsible for supporting Japanese companies from tax perspectives in the North region. 
 

She is also a US Certified Public Tax Accountant.