Mari Furukawa-Caspary (1962) sees herself as a cultural intermediary who can translate what is said in one language, not just literally but in a way that the target audience in the other language can really understand. For many years she has worked regularly with Japanese lean experts, not least on establishing the subtleties of monozukuri in clear and comprehensible "plain German" within German companies in collaboration with Shunji Yagyu.

Mari Furukawa-Caspary grew up in Tokyo, Vienna, Hong Kong and Frankfurt, graduated from high school in Germany and went on to study Mediaeval and Modern History in Mainz. Her professional career began in the securities department of a Japanese bank in Frankfurt, where she was fortunate enough to acquire an insider's view of the Japanese management system. In 2006 she embarked on self-employment with a bureau for translation and interpreting.

As a result of intensive cooperation with Shunji Yagyu, since 2011 Mari Furukawa-Caspary has also worked for German companies as a lean trainer in her own right. In addition to her lecturing experience, she has a long list of publications to her name as the author of expert articles for YOKOTEN, the specialist magazine of the CETPM (see also Articles). October 2015 saw the publication of the first volume of her book "Lean auf gut deutsch" ["Lean in plain German"], which is available both in bookstores and as an e-book. The follow-up volume is in preparation. She is also the organiser of exclusive lean learning circles held at irregular intervals in Essen, Munich and Mannheim, aimed at lean experts who would like to find out more about "Lean in plain German".