Russell Willis is a British entrepreneur, publisher, software developer and creative producer. Born in London and raised across southern England — from Beckenham to Broadstairs — he spent three decades in Tokyo as an entrepreneur, creating products and services at the intersection of education, publishing, and technology.
Early Days…
At 15, Russell began his publishing career with a profitable tourist guide for Broadstairs. At the same time, he launched comics fanzines that featured early contributions from future icons like Alan Moore and Posy Simmonds. At 20, he was Publications Editor at the University of East London Students' Union, where he edited the students' union magazine and handbooks, and introduced Macs to both the publications and accounting departments.
Educational Publishing in Japan
After moving to Japan in 1990, Russell taught in secondary schools and at the British Council’s Cambridge English School, where he also oversaw editorial and materials development. In 1993, having taught himself to code, he launched a multimedia company in Tokyo that developed bespoke language-learning software in collaboration with Canon and large universities.
His acclaimed Finding Out application — a joint venture with Macmillan — was hailed by Gendai Kyoiku Shinbun as “the best language learning software for children available.” He went on to pioneer speech-recognition technology in language education with Speak!, a product selected by Apple to feature in a MacWorld Expo keynote alongside its CEO.
Over the next two decades, Russell and his teams created software for the British Government, books and podcasts with TIME magazine and the Nikkei Weekly, and learning platforms for institutions such as Tokyo University and Oxford University Press. The Bookworms app he conceived and created for Oxford became the No.1 bestselling app in Japan for both iPhone and iPad.
He was the founder and director of development of the award-winning eigoTown.com for over 10 years, overseeing one of Japan’s largest online English-learning platforms with hundreds of thousands of monthly users.
In 2008–09, he added the role of transitional managing director of Guinness World Records Japan, where he crafted the local business plan, hired the permanent MD, and created new revenue streams — including the mass-participation certificate model.
More Recently…
Russell was the creator of SEQUENTIAL, an iPad app for digital graphic novels that brought expanded editions of key works by Eddie Campbell, David Hine, David Lloyd, Neil Gaiman, Gilbert Shelton, and Posy Simmonds to new audiences. His work in this space included partnerships with the British Library, the BBC, and the London Book Fair.
Over the last 15 years Russell and his team have built ELTBOOKS.com into one of Japan’s top educational resellers, serving over 10,000 schools and many thousands more individual customers.
Russell has also led the development of mobile apps such as Oxford Phonics World (2017–2025), which was bundled with Oxford’s best-selling book of the same name. He has consulted for Pearson and the Foreign & Commonwealth Office on database development, enterprise systems, and marketing.
Miscellaneous
Russell was a Special Advisor to the English-Speaking Union of Japan for eight years and a regular judge — alongside the British Ambassador — at university debating tournaments featuring teams from Oxford, Waseda, and Keio. He organised over 80 major social events at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan with capacity crowds in the hundreds. He has managed Facebook communities exceeding 300,000 members.
Russell has appeared on Japanese television numerous times and as a well-regarded public speaker he has given presentations at the London Book Fair, San Diego Comic-Con, and numerous industry and educational events.
IMPERATiVE is the brand name for Russell's companies outside of Japan.
Personal
Currently based in the UK, Russell is married with two children. He is a qualified table tennis coach and has guided both his sons to top-ten rankings in England for their age groups.