Outstanding Results for Nishimura & Asahi at the Legal 500 Asia Pacific 2024

His clients include mass media companies, leading IT vendors, telecommunications companies and motion-picture production & distribution companies and other media and technology-oriented enterprises, as well as a variety of global companies. He has held the positions of Vice Chairman of the Computer Research Committee of Japan, Federation of Bar Associations (1993-1997), Special Committee Member of the Copyright Council of Japan, Agency for Cultural Affairs (1995-2002), Working Team Member of International Jurisdiction and Governing Law, Agency for Cultural Affairs (2009-2010), Committee Member of Centralized Administration and Competition Policy, Agency for Cultural Affairs (2010-2012), Chairperson of the China IP Issues Research Committee, SOFTIC (2012-2015) and Chairperson of the OSS Legal Issues Research Committee, SOFTIC (2015-present).

Katsu has over 35 years’ experience working in the area of asset financing and trading transactions (including, structuring, negotiating, documenting and executing transactions). In particular, his practice focuses on aircraft/ship leasing, financing, and trading. He represents a wide range of clients, including leasing companies, banks, trading houses, airlines and investors, and other individuals and entities, and his key clients include a number of Japanese leasing companies, banks, and airlines. Katsu also regularly acts as a moderator and panelist at international conferences.

Hiroyuki heads our international dispute resolution practice. He specializes in international commercial litigation, arbitration, and mediation. He has represented many international clients, including multi-national manufacturers, banking and securities firms, insurance companies, and news media in disputes involving M&A, antitrust laws, corporate governance, insurance laws, intellectual property, defamation, joint ventures, licensing, construction, and other commercial matters, as well as international bankruptcy. He has been involved in a number of international arbitrations as counsel, sole arbitrator, and co-arbitrator (including chair) before the ICC, JCAA, AAA-ICDR, VIAC, KCAB, and SIAC.
Hiroyuki serves as Vice President of the Japan Association of Arbitrators and as Chief Director of the Japan International Mediation Center in Kyoto, was Vice Chair of the Arbitration Committee of the IBA Legal Practice Division, and was Co-Chair of the Dispute Resolution and Arbitration Committee at the IPBA from 2016 to 2020. From 2013 to 2016, he taught international arbitration and international dispute resolution at the University of Tokyo, School of Law as a visiting professor. Since 2013, he has been a member of the SIAC’s Court of Arbitration. He is also a member of the International Court of Arbitration of the ICC, and since 2018, he has been a Council member of the ICC Institute of World Business Law.

He plays a vital senior role within the firm’s fund/asset management practice group which he has set up. With the resources of Japan’s largest law firm, he and his colleagues are able to assist clients in all aspects of large-scale buyout and financing transactions, including due diligence, financing and tax matters, strategy and compliance issues, and regulatory filings. Over 30 years, he has extensive experience as counsel to fund promoters, investment managers, placement agents, pension funds and various other financial institutions, providing specialist advice in respect of fund raising and placement of buyout funds, turnaround or mezzanine types of private equity funds, hedge funds, infrastructure funds, real estate funds and any other types of collective investment scheme. He also serves as counsel to investment fund institutions and advisers, financial advisers, banks and other senior lenders, advising on buyout loans and other debt/equity financing matters. He is a 1987 LLB graduate of the University of Tokyo and received an LLM from Harvard Law School in 1994. He has been a member of the Japanese and New York Bars since 1989 and 1995 respectively, and fluent in both English and Japanese. He joined the firm in 1989 and has been a partner from 1998. He spent one year on secondment at Cravath, Swaine and Moore, New York (1994 to 1995) and served as lecturer on finance law at Keio Law School, Tokyo (2004 to 2013) and as corporate auditor at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities Co., Ltd. (2014 to 2022).

Masaki Hosaka has expertise in General Corporate and M&A law. He was the Managing Partner of the firm from early 2011 to March 2021, and Chairman of The Management Board from April 2021 to March 2024. He is now an student in the Bachelor’s program at the University of Tokyo’s Faculty of Education.

Kozo’s anti-trust/competition practice covers every area of the practice, i.e., violation cases such as cartel and unilateral conduct, merger regulations, and compliance to prevent violations of Japanese and foreign competition laws. Kozo continues to be recognized by international law journals as one of the top practitioners in Japan in the area of competition law. He has handled large scale international cartel cases and has contributed to the realization of prominent merger regulations. In the area of international trade law, Kozo is widely recognized as a pioneer of trade law practice in Japan and has advised both the private sector and governmental agencies. He has been involved in most of the trade remedy investigations, such as those for the imposition of anti-dumping duties and subsidy countervailing duties as counsel to Japanese and foreign clients, and in some overseas trade remedy investigations to defend Japanese clients. In addition, Kozo’s practice covers international disputes, corporate crisis management, and regulatory investigations.

Among other things, Yoshihiko is recognized as an authority on real-estate finance and a pioneer in structured finance. He has advised on various types of real property and its related finance, as well as investment funds, including J-REITs and private real-estate funds. He has been involved in numerous significant transactions employing various structures; these transactions have included a variety of underlying assets, including those that are not monetary claims or real property, such as movable property, whole businesses, and intellectual property. His expertise extends to other international and domestic finance areas, such as banking, trust, and securities regulation, and equity and mezzanine finance including BIS finance, project finance, public sector finance, Islamic finance, and finance in the renewable energy sector, including mega solar project bonds. He also heads the firm’s Middle East Practice Team, and has advised on various matters in relation to that region, as well as Asian countries.

Asa Shinkawa has been a partner in the M&A/corporate group at Nishimura & Asahi since 2001. She has a long and successful history of advising Japanese and international corporations and private equity firms. Ms. Shinkawa has advised on mergers and acquisitions, tender offers, cross border transactions, domestic acquisitions and divestitures and going private transactions, restructurings and spin offs, joint ventures, and numerous other kinds of transactions and commercial arrangements. Ms. Shinkawa has been recognized as one of the world's leading lawyers in the field of Corporate/Mergers and Acquisitions in Chambers Global - The World's Leading Lawyers for Business, since 2009, and is ranked as one of the top practitioners in Japan in the field of Corporate/M&A. She was awarded "Dealmaker of the Year" at the ALB Japan Law Awards 2022,  "Dealmaker of the Year, North Asia" at the ALB Women in Law Awards 2021 and "Woman Lawyer of the Year" at the ALB Japan Law Awards 2020, "M&A Deal of the Year” at the IFLR Asia-Pacific Awards 2022, "Private Equity Deal of the Year” at The Asia Legal Awards 2021 and "Legal Expertise: Creating a New Standard” at the Financial Times Asia-Pacific Innovative Lawyer Awards 2019, and has received many other accolades. In addition, she has advised on M&A transactions and integrations/business combinations between public corporations in which merger control considerations were a critical prerequisite for the consummation of the transactions. Ms. Shinkawa has also advised extensively on the application of antitrust law in relation to joint ventures, business alliances and other types of cooperative arrangements between competitors, sole-distributorship arrangements, distribution agreements, dealer agreements and license arrangements. She was engaged in the reform of the electricity system in Japan, as an expert member of governmental committees under the Electricity and Gas Market Surveillance Commission  and various committees of the Advisory committees for Natural resourse and Energy of the METI from 2015 to 2021.

Yoshinobu was promoted to partner in 1999. He has experience in NP loans, real estate transactions, and equity investment cases dealing with foreign capital funds and companies. In addition to domestic M&A and business integration cases, he has recently been engaged in many M&A and JV cases by Japanese corporations in the USA, Europe, and Asian countries. He has advised Japanese corporations on lawsuits in the USA and other overseas countries, and has extensive experience in the dispute settlement and risk management fields. He has won many awards in the Corporate/M&A, Private Wealth and Healthcare fields from business law reviews, such as Chambers Global and The Legal 500 Asia-Pacific.

Kei Ito is one of the leading partners of the Firm’s investment fund/asset management practice group. Mr. Ito has significant experience in various investment funds (ranging from traditional mutual funds to ETFs and to alternative investments such as private equity funds, and to climate funds and funds with a sustainable investment objective), providing asset management firms and other clients with regulatory advice, securities transactions, banking, derivatives, FinTech, structured finance transactions and a wide variety of other finance areas. Mr. Ito is very well versed in international finance transactions, catering to both domestic and international clients on various cross-border matters. Mr. Ito is also responsible for the Firm’s China practice.

Mr. Ota has a breadth of practical international and domestic legal experience, focusing on the areas of hostile takeovers, shareholder activism, M&A transactions (including cross-border deals), corporate governance and other corporate matters, domestic / international Tax, personal information / data protection, and works on a wide range of corporate legal affairs. He was selected as the NIKKEI "Most Successful Lawyers in 2022" in the corporate law category (1st), the NIKKEI "Most Successful Lawyers in 2021" in the corporate law (excl. M&A) category (2nd), and also the NIKKEI "Most Successful Lawyers in 2020" in the M&A category (1st) and the corporate law category (3rd). In addition, he dedicates himself to research and writing activities that bridge academia and practice on cutting-edge issues related to the Companies Act, the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act, tax law, the Act on the Protection of Personal Information, etc. He has edited and authored many books and papers, such as “Schemes and Tax Issues of M&A and Corporate Restructuring, 4th Ed.”, “Corpus Juris M&A - Completely Revised Edition (first volume) (second volume)”, “Handbook on Share Options (Fifth Edition)”, “Corpus Juris Series - Personal Information Protection Legislation (Global)”, “Handbook on Class Shares”, “Nuts and Shell of the 2019 Amendment of the Companies Act and Practical Response”, “Legal Issues and Practices of Virtual Shareholders’ Meeting”, etc.

Mr. Kimeda’s main areas of practice are Corporate Crisis Management and Litigation. As for Corporate Crisis Management, he has extensive experience in corporate scandal cases, including window-dressing, misrepresentation of financial statements, insider trading, antitrust (bid rigging, price cartels, and abuse of dominant position), product defects, misleading representations of products, divulging confidential information, bribery, political funding, money laundering, breach of industrial regulations, and factory accidents. In these types of cases he has specific expertise on the issues of internal investigations, third party committee investigations, defending against criminal and administrative investigations, public relations, rebuilding compliance systems, reforming corporate governance, and handling the related civil litigation. He also serves as an outside whistleblower hotline channel for a number of companies. As for litigation, he has considerable experience in tax disputes, shareholders disputes, and other types of corporate litigation. He is the author of numerous legal articles and has also been involved in the process of making laws and regulations. He has been recognized as one of the “Most successful lawyers” by the NIKKEI for the last several years as below.

2023 Corporate Crisis Management category 1st
2021 Corporate Crisis Management category 1st
2020 Corporate Crisis Management category 1st
2018 Corporate Crisis Management category 2nd
2014 Corporate Crisis Management category 2nd
2011 Corporate Crisis Management category 3rd
2022 Corporate Legal Affairs category 9th
2016 Corporate Legal Affairs category 10th
2015 Corporate Legal Affairs category 8th
2013 Corporate Legal Affairs category 2nd
2012 Corporate Legal Affairs category 4th

Since becoming an attorney-at-law, I have been consistently engaged in bankruptcy and business revitalization practices. In legal arrangements, I have not only fulfilled the duties of a trustee, supervisor, etc., and been involved as a debtor's agent, but have also provided advice to creditors and sponsors that makes full use of such experience. Beyond legal liquidation, I have a reputation for taking the lead in restructuring in the early stages of the process, as well as Out of Court Informal Workouts. In recent years, I have also expanded my sphere of activity into the field of sports practice.

Akihiro’s experience covers product liability, contractual claims, mass tort claims, and tax disputes, in various industries, in particular in the pharmaceutical and automotive industries. He has also handled disputes arising from M&A transactions, disputes involving construction sites in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, and disputes arising from the termination of distribution agreements. He has achieved significant results in international arbitrations, including emergency arbitration proceedings under the rules of the ICC, SIAC, AAA-ICDR, and JCAA. He also advised clients in connection with US civil actions, including class actions, and Japanese judicial assistance for foreign court proceedings.

In one notable case, he successfully defended a Japanese trading company against six large vicarious liability lawsuits, involving claims totaling JPY 48.3 billion, filed by claimants including an affiliate of a US-headquartered investment bank and a US hedge fund. He also recovered JPY 13.3 billion for Shionogi & Co. in an action challenging a tax assessment relating to an in-kind contribution of a partnership interest in a cross-border reorganization for the development of a drug for AIDS. He is currently representing a pharmaceutical company in one of the largest product liability lawsuits in Japan.

He is a graduate of The University of Tokyo (LL.B., 1993) and Harvard Law School (LL.M., 2003), and is licensed to practice law in Japan and New York. He served as a Japanese district court judge from 1998 until 2000, and worked at Arnold & Porter (Washington, D.C.) from 2003 until 2004. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.

He is the author of various books and articles in the areas of litigation and international arbitration, including Yasuhei Taniguchi et al. eds., Civil Procedure in Japan (contributor, Juris Publishing). He was awarded the "Dispute Resolution Lawyer of the Year" at the ALB Japan Law Awards in 2022.

Hajime has extensive expertise in the area of corporate restructuring and insolvency, as well as securitization/structured finance practice (including concession transactions); especially known for his uncanny skills to see through complex issues and the web of differing interests of relevant parties, he is not confined to conventional thinking and instead strives to devise various new deal structures and provide new solutions. He also has an extensive practice in other areas of corporate finance and capital markets, as well as regulatory matters of financial institutions (including Basel accord capital rules). Having spent his youth in the U.S. and having studied abroad, he is fluent in both English and Japanese. He serves as the Firm’s CTO and is engaged in IT/DX-related matters, as well.

Norio Maeda is a partner with expertise in transactions involving the acquisition and development of, the financing of, and investment in, Japanese renewable energy projects. He has represented domestic and foreign investors, developers, and lenders, including infrastructure funds, energy companies, and financial institutions from the U.S., Europe, and Asia in numerous green-field and brown-field projects. Norio’s practice also covers transactions involving acquisition and development, investment, and financing with respect to Japanese real estate assets. He is highly skilled at developing innovative investment and financing structures. He has represented domestic and foreign investors, including investment funds, financial institutions, investment managers, and developers from the U.S., Europe, and Asia, in numerous investment and development projects involving sophisticated structures. He also has represented lenders in numerous structured finance transactions involving real estate assets. Norio’s transactional experience includes establishment of Japanese investment platforms into Japanese real estate assets using the TMK and GK-TK schemes, as well as the restructuring of Japanese real estate asset investments. In addition, Norio has extensive experience in inbound cross-border financing transactions for the operation of multi-national corporations in Japan. He has worked on inbound financing transactions under global debt facilities for multi-national corporations headquartered in Asia and other parts of the world. These transactions have involved collateral consisting of various types of assets and have employed a wide variety of credit support structures.

Kei Umebayashi is a partner at Nishimura & Asahi and previously worked at the Special Investigative Section of the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office, where he obtained extensive experience and know-how in criminal investigations.
 He is expert at gathering evidence and conducting hearings.
 He mainly handles cases in which the executives or officers of a company leaked, intentionally or accidentally, the company’s confidential information, including customer data and business secrets.
 He deals with matters conducted by Japanese authorities, including the Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission (SESC) and the Fair Trade Commission.
 Additionally, he gives valuable advice concerning a variety of other matters, such as insider trading, antitrust law, leniency applications under antitrust law, and inquiries by the US Department of Justice, European Commission and other foreign authorities when a company is targeted by them due to alleged violations of antitrust laws.

Takahiko handles a wide range of domestic and international M&A transactions, general corporate matters, and labor matters. In particular, he has extensive experience in private equity fund investments, cross-border transactions (mainly in Europe and the U.S.), as well as TMT and pharmaceutical industry-related M&A transactions. Regardless of the difficulty or complexity of a case, his policy is to respond in a flexible, appropriate, and timely manner in accordance with his clients’ needs and expectations. He is also actively involved in D&I activities and pro bono work.

Yuki Oi is a partner in our M&A/Corporate practice group. He advises domestic and international corporations and financial institutions on their cross-border and domestic M&A transactions. He also handles corporate governance matters and general corporate issues, as well as corporate crisis management matters and commercial litigation.
 
 Some of the major cases he has advised on include representing UFJ Holdings on its integration with Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group (2006), Bulldog Sauce on its famous defense against a hostile takeover attempt initiated by Steel Partners (2007), the Osaka Securities Exchange on its integration with the Tokyo Stock Exchange (2011), Idemitsu Kosan on its integration with Showa Shell Sekiyu (2015-19), Toshiba on its divestiture of Toshiba Memory Corporation (2018), and Honda on its strategic alliance with Sony Group in mobility sector (2022).
 
 He was awarded the Young Lawyer of the Year Award at the ALB Japan Law Awards 2019, and the Innovative Practitioners Award at the FT Innovative Lawyers Awards Asia-Pacific 2020. He was also selected as one of Asia’s top 40 lawyers under 40 by Asian Legal Business in 2017.
 
 He has also served as a lecturer at the University of Tokyo, Faculty of Law (2012-13), and Graduate Schools for Law and Politics (2014-present).

He has an extensive track record representing issuers, managers and selling shareholders in various capital markets transactions, incduling global IPOs, global follow-on offerings, convetibles bonds offerings, debt offerings, private investments in public companies (PIPEs), J-REITs offerings. He also has been active in fincance transactions by venture companies.

Tomohiro regularly serves as legal counsel to major financial institutions, trading companies, and energy companies on various projects and project finance transactions. His extensive experience with domestic projects covers a wide variety of sectors including renewable energy, IPP, grid connections, airports, water, and social infrastructure. He also has broad experience with international project financing transactions, including financing for LNG projects, mining projects, and refineries. Tomohiro is recognized as a leading project finance lawyer by Chambers Asia-Pacific, The Legal 500, IFLR1000, Best Lawyers and Who’s Who Legal. He was also named “Energy and Infrastructure Lawyer of the Year” at The Asia Legal Awards 2021.

His main practice area is corporate crisis management and litigation. He is also highly knowledgeable and experienced on matters involving foreign investigations and regulatory authorities. He has dealt with many cases in relation to investigations by the Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission, the Japanese Fair Trade Commission, the Japanese Public Prosecutor’s Office, etc., as well as foreign authorities such as the U.S. Department of Justice. He has also dealt with a variety of cases such as misconduct by executives and employees, violation of environmental regulations, violation of the regulation regarding pharmaceutical and medical equipment, etc. In addition to cases that require emergency responses, he has advised many companies to build effective whistleblowing systems and anti-bribery compliance programs, and he has assisted with due diligence procedures from a compliance perspective.

Alexander Woody advises clients on energy and natural resources project investments, development and financing. He has over 20 years' experience in Japan, with a focus on cross-border LNG investments, tolling and purchase agreements and transportation arrangements.

Alex has worked extensively with arbitration specialists to provide strategic advice and assist clients to resolve disputes arising during the course of these long-term projects. He has also advised clients on solar, battery and wind power investments, as well as early stage hydrogen projects.

Alex is ranked by Chambers Global 2022 and Chambers Asia-Pacific 2022 as a Leading Lawyer for Projects & Energy: International - Japan. He is also ranked by the Legal 500 Asia Pacific 2022 as a Leading Individual: Gaiben for Projects and Energy: International Firms and Joint Ventures - Japan.

He has an extensive track record representing clients in over 80 corporate rehabilitation and bankruptcy cases to date, playing an instrumental role in communicating with financial institutions on M&A, financing, and private liquidations from a multifaceted perspective. He is also known for his expertise in business succession cases involving a wide range of competing interests, such as drafting family charters, and handling litigation, leveraging his insights into industry conditions and economic circumstances surrounding his clients.

Hitomi handles patents, copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets, and other IP-related matters in multiple business sectors, including IT, life sciences and healthcare, machinery, food, fashion, environment and energy, entertainment, financial services, and e-commerce. Ms. Iwase’s expertise encompasses all forms of IP transactional work, both cross-border and domestic, including licensing, strategic alliances, joint development, and asset transfers, as well as various types of IP disputes, including patent/trademark infringement litigation. Hitomi also assists clients in anti-counterfeiting and in the development of IP portfolios and prosecution strategies. Hitomi regularly advises clients on emerging legal issues relating to the latest technology, such as IoT and artificial intelligence (AI), as well as on complex system-related transactions and disputes over such transactions. In the area of data privacy, Hitomi provides extensive advice on data protection and privacy compliance, including on establishing global compliance systems and incidents such as data breaches. Hitomi also advises on related areas such as e-commerce, advertising, and consumer protection.

With regard to competition laws, he advises clients on various matters of competition law for both domestic and international cases. He has represented clients with many important international cartel cases, including auto-parts, TFT-LCD, air cargo and high voltage power cables. He also handled significant merger cases in various industries, such as nuclear, security exchanges, local banks, steel and metals, food and agriculture, airlines, paper and natural resources. His practice also covers private monopolization, unilateral conduct and unfair trade practices, including vertical restraints and abuse of superior bargaining position, including platform business and internet industries. He also has been very active in the field of international trade matters. He is one of few lawyers in Japan who acted on behalf of various industries with regard to anti-dumping (AD) and counter-vailing duties (CVD) in Japan and overseas. While he served as deputy director of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan, he handled several important WTO disputes on behalf of Japanese government. He continues to advice both public and private sectors with regard to various sorts of trade law matters associated with WTO, investment treaties and Regional Trade Agreements. His trade expertise also covers export controls, investment screenings, economic sanctions and customs matters.

Chris has been based in Thailand since 2001 and has more than two decades of experience working alongside Thai lawyers on cross-border M&A and regulatory matters, providing international-level solutions to companies entering the Thai market. His clients include global companies investing or acquiring assets in Thailand and Thai companies engaging in cross-border transactions. He advises international and Thai companies on the development, sale, and acquisition of renewable energy projects in Thailand and across Asia.

His M&A practice has included private M&A, advising institutional and activist investors on SEC/SET reporting requirements and acquisition thresholds, and strategic shareholders on synergistic de-layering of listed group structures. His sector expertise for M&A includes manufacturing, TMT, logistics, renewable energy projects, and the service sector for both buy-side and sell-side, share and asset sale transaction structures. He has advised overseas law firms on the acquisition of Thai law firms.

With a focus on renewables (including transition), Chris’ energy practice has more than 1 GW’s experience in onshore wind, solar (PV, thermal, ground mount utility scale, and C&I rooftop), and waste-to-energy projects. His experience has a broad reach, from due diligence of early-stage projects, advising on EPC/O&M, corporate PPAs, equity funding, and project finance, to pre- and post-commissioning exits and acquisitions.

Hideo’s practice includes a broad mix of acquisition finance, project finance, cross-border syndicated lending, equity investment, and other innovative financing products. Hideo also has strong expertise in banking and frequently advises financial institutions, inter alia, on matters including debt restructuring and banking regulations. Leveraging his significant experience in investment-banking matters, he regularly advices financial institutions, major companies and governmental agencies on various corporate matters.

Tsuyoshi Ito has significant experience in tax counseling and tax controversies and has represented major corporations in numerous tax disputes and tax lawsuits. In March 2021, he won a significant corporate tax dispute that challenged a tax assessment of approximately USD 367 million in taxable income before the Tokyo High Court after a protracted seven-year battle. In August 2014, he won a tax dispute involving securitization transactions of domestic housing loans before the Tokyo High Court. In addition to excellent achievements in major tax disputes, he generally advises on domestic and cross-border taxation issues in various transactions, such as M&A, joint ventures, fund formation and equity/debt investments.

Kosuke Shibukawa supports both domestic and foreign banks, leasing companies, other financial institutions, airlines, and shipping companies in a wide range of financing transactions, including asset finance, banking, and acquisition finance transactions.
 In particular, in asset finance transactions, including domestic and cross-border aircraft, ship, and marine container lease and sale transactions, Kosuke provides advice based on his extensive knowledge and experience throughout the entire process, from structuring, documentation, negotiation, and deal execution, to ensure smooth transaction execution. 
 He has been involved in many cross-border project finance transactions, particularly for floating production, storage and offloading systems (FPSO), and floating storage and offloading systems (FSO), and advises a wide range of domestic and foreign financial institutions.

His extensive experience includes securitization transactions regarding a wide variety of receivables and other asset classes as a legal counsel for originators, arrangers, and trustees, and he has worked on structured finance transactions involving various schemes, including those achieved for the first time ever in Japan. He has a great deal of experience engaging in the development of new trust products and complicated trust schemes. As he has worked at the Corporate Accounting and Disclosure Division, the Planning and Coordination Bureau, the Financial Services Agency of Japan, and also has experience engaging in the planning of the financial regulations there, he has provided advice to many financial institutions, including banks, trust banks, securities firms, insurance companies, and nonbanks, as well as business companies and start-ups which enter the financial businesses. He also has a great deal of experience advising companies with respect to the application of the financial regulations on novel transactions or products, including FinTech areas. He has a wealth of experience participating as a member of various study groups and working groups, including government and academia conferences, and has frequently written and spoken on a wide range of topics involving legal systems and finance practice; thus, he is recognized as an opinion leader in the field of finance law.

Maya has extensive experience advising international investors on cross-border renewable energy projects, as well as advising both borrowers and lenders on financing for renewable energy projects in Japan. She previously worked in the cross-border project finance team of a Japanese megabank, handling matters relating to natural resources, power and energy, and infrastructure. Maya has also provided banks, financial institutions, and other corporate clients, most of which operate their businesses globally, with compliance and regulatory advice, as well as advice on a variety of governance matters. She is actively involved in D&I projects aimed at promoting the active participation of women, and has organized numerous D&I seminars and other similar events for corporations. She is also actively involved in Climate Change related projects and has organized Climate Change seminars and events.

Sadayuki has a wealth of experience in supporting international clients in projects, transactions, and businesses in the energy sector. Sadayuki advises his clients on the best solutions for achieving their business goals based on his deep understanding of the relevant laws and regulations and practices in the full energy supply chain. He also has expertise in carbon-neutral projects and businesses, such as renewable power projects and hydrogen projects, as well as pioneering businesses involved in recent developments in the electricity market and the regulations thereon. Sadayuki serves as a member of an industrial safety rules committee and a hydrogen safety strategy committee, both of which were established by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan, and also is a member of an electricity capacity market committee, which is part of the Organization for Cross-regional Coordination of Transmission Operators, Japan (OCCTO).

Takashi is a seasoned finance lawyer with experience in various types of financing transactions, including acquisition finance/private equity, venture finance, securitization, real estate finance and asset management, having particular strength in crosscutting financial transactions. By integrating his abundant and wide ranging knowledge and experience, he regularly provides multilateral advice to domestic and international financial institutions, mezzanine investors, private equity funds, venture capital funds, real estate funds and asset management companies. In the field of acquisition finance, where Takashi enjoys an impressive reputation according to Chambers, Legal 500 and IFLR, as a core member of our acquisition finance practice, he has advised our clients in a large number of acquisition financing transactions such as LBO/MBO. His strength has been especially demonstrated in transactions having novel and complex structures. Takashi also has a wide ranging of experience in the field of venture finance. Representing one of the largest Japanese venture capital funds, he has advised on venture capital investments in more than 200 startups around the world including Japan, US, UK, Singapore, Canada, Israel, India, Netherlands and South Korea.

He has been involved in the establishment of a variety of funds, including private equity funds, venture funds, CVC, infrastructure funds, renewable energy funds, and real estate funds. Structuring advice in connection with Financial Instruments and Exchange Act and other securities regulations is his area of specialty. He also actively supports investment activities of funds, such as M&A, LBO finance, and venture investments. Further, he focuses on the development, acquisition, and/or project finance of renewable energy projects supporting developers, including, but not limited to, renewable energy funds. He also has experience in IPP projects abroad as a member of a leading Japanese trading company. He is a member of the Africa practice team and Middle-East practice team, and has a good connection with law firms in such areas. He actively supports Japanese companies in the expansion of their businesses in Africa and the Middle-East.

Adrian has considerable experience advising lenders, sponsors and ECAs on energy, transportation and infrastructure in, Japan, APAC, the Americas, Europe, Middle East and Africa. He is recognised as a market leader for project finance and asset finance and regularly advises Japanese and international clients on the development and financing of cross-border energy, infrastructure and transportation projects. Highly regarded for his commercial acumen, Adrian is recognised in Chambers Global and Chambers APAC for “Projects & Energy: International” and “Banking & Finance: International Asset Finance” and in The Legal 500 for "Projects and Finance”, “Shipping” and “Banking and Finance” for which he is ranked as a “Leading Individual”. Recent experience includes advising sponsors and lenders on: • LNG: a large number of LNG vessel financings (20 vessels since 2020), SPAs and joint ventures; • Infrastructure: projects including five subsea cable financings in APAC and the Americas and two infrastructure projects in Japan; • Renewables: greenfield projects and project sales in Japan and APAC including solar, wind and waste to energy. • Asset finance: debt finance, restructurings, SLB, ESG and JOLCOs in the shipping and aviation sectors. Adrian attended the University of Tokyo and University of Waseda and speaks and reads Japanese.

Yuri is specialized in Restructuring and Insolvency and also Labor Law. Especially, she is well-known in the restructuring market given her outstanding expertise and experience in cross-border restructuring and insolvency cases. She has plenty of experience providing foreign clients with restructuring and business closure of their Japanese subsidiaries. She also supports foreign clients on a wide range of labor issues, including labor disputes, personnel restructuring and general labor law matters on a daily basis. She is actively engaged in diversity and inclusion promotion activities. Utilizing her expertise as a labor-law specialist, as well as her experience as a member of the DE&I Promotion Committee at Nishimura & Asahi and as a director of LLAN (lawyers for LGBT & Allies Network), she has supported clients’ D&I initiatives.

Focusing on disputes arising out of the termination of contracts, in particular for clients in the automotive, pharmaceutical, electronic devices, apparel, and food & beverage sectors, Yutaro Kawabata is a “divorce lawyer” for companies. Since joining Nishimura & Asahi in 2004, he has been involved in a number of major international arbitration and commercial litigation cases.

Yoshiharu has extensive experience in various areas of international and domestic investment fundraising, including private equity, venture capital, mezzanine, infrastructure, real estate, and commodity funds, and is regularly consulted by top-ranked US and UK law firms for advice on Japanese regulatory matters. He frequently advises financial institutions and major companies, including banks, insurance companies, and private/government pension funds on their investments in international and domestic alternative funds in a timely and flexible manner. He also worked at the New York office of a Japanese mega bank (MUFG Bank) as a secondee, and has expertise in compliance-related matters relating to financial institutions.

Lars’ practice is focused on commercial and investment arbitration. He has particular expertise in contentious proceedings involving post-M&A, commercial, manufacturing, construction, and distribution matters, in areas such as life sciences, automotive, and energy. Lars also deals with cases involving governments, and has advised foreign investors and sovereign states on issues of foreign direct investment and public international law, including related negotiations and investor-state disputes. He has been involved in more than 50 international arbitrations as counsel and arbitrator under the arbitration rules of institutions such as the ICC, DIS, SAC, NAI, ICDR, KCAB, JCAA, SIAC, and ICSID, as well as under the UNCITRAL Rules.

He represents clients engaged in a broad range of banking and finance matters, including real estate financing facilities, leveraged financing transactions, restructurings, project financing facilities and structured finance transactions. He also has expertise in representing foreign and domestic investors, funds, and corporate entities in various types of matters, including joint ventures, mergers, acquisitions, and investment transactions. In recent years, he has also represented clients engaged in many solar PV projects and other renewable energy projects.

Tomoyuki Numata specializes in crisis management and competition law compliance, with a wealth of experience in cases that require understanding of IT and technology. 

As a partner in the crisis management department, he has extensive experience in dealing with cases such as window dressing, bribery of overseas civil servants, fraudulent acquisition of confidential information, violation of the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act, quality fraud in the manufacturing industry, and embezzlement by employees. In these cases, he was responsible for fact-finding and investigating the cause. He has also taken a number of strategic actions, such as dealing with government and investigative authorities (including experience of commitment agreement with the JFTC and judicial transactions), communicating with the mass media, and formulating recurrence prevention measures. 

In the field of antitrust law / competition law, he is involved in cartel / bid negotiation cases including criminal cases / administrative cases, unilateral acts cases such as private monopoly, unfair trading methods, etc. He also handles a lot of authorities’ responses. In addition, he has a wealth of experience in dealing with domestic and overseas business combination investigation by the Japan Fair Trade Commission and overseas competition authorities. 

He also provides a lot of advice on creating a legal compliance system such as anti-bribery system, competition law management system, whistleblowing system, internal audit and monitoring. In particular, he is familiar with system development utilizing advanced technologies such as machine learning, data analytics, and text mining. 

Yoko’s practice focuses on representation of life sciences and technology companies that develop and market pharmaceuticals, biologics, vaccines, diagnostics, medical devices, and digital health products. She specializes in corporate transactions involving complex intellectual property and pharmaceutical regulatory issues, including mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, strategic alliances and asset transfers. In addition, she counsels clients on matters involving research and development collaborations, clinical trials, technology licensing, supply and distribution agreements, and co-promotion arrangements. She also advises clients in connection with privacy and personal data protection matters.

He has handled a number of insolvency and restructuring cases, ranging from small-and medium-sized companies to listed enterprises. In recent years, through coordinating with financial institutions, he has provided expert legal advice on a number of early-stage restructuring cases in relation to corporate M&A and financing. In addition to M&A cases involving funds and companies, he also handles civil and commercial disputes between or within corporations, and provides advice on venture financing and developing legal areas (including agriculture & food and healthcare fields) to start-up enterprises. He is adept at identifying the needs of his clients and providing them with comprehensive legal advice.

Junko Wakabayashi specializes in antitrust and competition law. She has extensive experience with various antitrust matters and issues, including merger filings, cartels, transactional matters, and compliance, in both domestic and cross-border cases. She regularly engages with global clients and negotiates with competition authorities on their behalf. Due to her prior experience at the Ministry Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism, where she engaged in policy and rule making, as well as operations, and built a network of connections in government offices, Junko has a deep knowledge and understanding of regulations and government affairs, particularly those that impact transportation industries (e.g., aviation, automotive). She was seconded to a major energy company, where she acquired familiarity with the energy industry. Her wide range of experience enables her to provide precise, tailored advice that accurately addresses and responds to each client’s needs and business operations.

He specializes in mergers & acquisitions including legal due diligence, drafting, and executing and negotiating joint-venture and share transfer agreements; labor & employment matters including dispute resolution between employers and employees, and redundancy arrangements, etc.; the acquisition of various licenses for various business sectors; negotiations with Myanmar government authorities for various projects; and general legal research relating to Myanmar. He also has a wide range of experience advising on matters relating to telecommunications, logistics, construction, finance and dispute resolution. Kyi Chan Nyein has a broad network in Myanmar including with government authorities, through his involvement in various law-reform projects, research on Myanmar’s legal system, and his long-term experience in Myanmar. He is the recipient of several awards including Asialaw Leading Lawyers 2017 (Rising Star), Asialaw Profiles 2018 (Recommended Individuals), and Chambers Asia-Pacific 2022 (Associates to Watch).

Kohei is an expert in private liquidation proceedings and insolvency proceedings in Japan. He is continuously appointed as a trustee in bankruptcy by the Tokyo District Court. He is engaged in legal advice and litigation procedures for companies. He also advises business owners on inheritance and divorce. He has also worked on the necessary procedures in Japan for foreign probate proceedings (especially in Hong Kong and Singapore). Recently, he has focused his practice on the healthcare industry.

Gai handles a wide variety of IP related disputes including IP infringement litigation and trials as well as non-contentious matters including drafting and reviewing IP related agreements. With an engineering background, Gai has particular expertise in patent related matters but is also adept at handling copyrights, trademarks and trade secrets. 

Gai also advises tech ventures and startups on cutting-edge technological matters involving AI, IoT and data including data privacy. Gai served as a member of the team that drafted the “Contract Guidelines on the Utilization of AI and Data,” Japan’s first comprehensive guidelines on AI and data related contracts published by the Japanese Government in June 2018. His strength in technology related matters is widely acknowledged by clients: “Gai Matsushita is particularly experienced in the technical field while having a deep knowledge of law, he is an excellent lawyer who leads his client in the right direction” (Legal 500 Asia Pacific 2020).

Gai is active in the field of international dispute resolution. Based on his experience working at leading firms in Singapore and New York, Gai has represented clients in several international commercial arbitration cases seated outside of Japan and in arbitration related domestic procedures including applications for provisional dispositions in Japan.