Notice of the appointment of our new partners

Tomoki’s practice covers various corporate crisis management matters such as product defects, breach of industrial regulations including GMP, misleading representations of products, divulging confidential information, window-dressing, misrepresentation of financial statements, insider trading, antitrust (bid rigging, price cartels, and abuse of dominant position), bribery, and misconduct by executives and employees. He provides tailored legal services (investigation, creating a relapse prevention plan, defending against criminal and administrative investigations, public relations, handling the related civil, criminal and administrative litigation, etc.) in a timely and flexible manner. He also has advised many companies in building effective whistle blowing systems and anti-bribery compliance programs, and has assisted with due diligence procedures from a compliance perspective.
After a secondment to a South Korean law firm from 2016 to 2017, he supports South Korean clients on their expansion and business development strategies in Japan.

Akihiro has deep knowledge and extensive experience in a wide range of financial transactions and financial regulations, especially on a variety of investment funds, venture finance and compliance-related matters for financial institutions, including support for market entry and other innovative challenges such as FinTech business.

His transaction practice covers asset management business (including venture funds, PE funds, infrastructure funds and hedge funds), venture finance, project finance, real estate finance, and a various types of financial transactions.

Also, in the financial regulatory area, with his experience from a secondment to the Japanese Financial Service Agency where he was engaged mainly in assisting asset managers and FinTech businesses, he regularly provides flexible and creative solutions to traditional financial institutions such as banks, securities companies and asset managers, start-ups aiming to launch new financial business and foreign financial companies accessing the Japanese financial market.

Based in Singapore since April 2014, Tomoro's areas of expertise include general corporate matters and M&A, disputes, labor and crisis management cases in Singapore, Indonesia and other Southeast Asian countries. He strives to deepen his knowledge and understanding of the distinct language/culture/regulations/commercial practices, and believes that communication is the key in any project. He regularly speaks in compliance seminars for the branch offices and the subsidiaries of his clients.

Shinsuke has been involved in a number of Restructuring & Insolvency cases such as Out-of-Court Workouts, Civil Rehabilitation, Corporate Reorganization, Bankruptcy and Early Stage Restructuring as an agent or a legal advisor of our clients in various positions such as debtors, creditors, and sponsors. He also handles M&A, disputes and general corporate cases including those related to or derived from Restructuring & Insolvency cases. He was seconded to the Financial Services Agency of Japan from 2013 through 2015 and engaged in amendment of the Deposit Insurance Law and other related laws and regulations. Therefore, he has expertise in financial regulation, especially that related to recovery and resolution of financial institutions. Based on these experiences and knowledge, he provides sincere and accurate legal support in accordance with the needs and positions of our clients.

Daiki has experience and knowledge in a wide range of business areas as a finance lawyer (such as project finance, infrastructure/PPP, securitization/liquidation, real-estate structured finance, and fundraising). He has worked for and been seconded to both financial institutions and a developer (overseas business development base of a Japanese trading and investment company in Dubai). In recent years, taking advantage of such experience and his knowledge of actual business operations, he has been providing practical and detailed support and advice to clients, mainly in the fields of infrastructure and energy (including the renewable energy sector), throughout from start-up to achievement of highly challenging projects and new businesses, as well as providing legal support to resolve various issues (including disputes) that arise during operation of the projects. In addition to his involvement in projects to support financial institutions, he has a particularly strong track record of involvement in projects to support developers, sponsors, EPCs, and suppliers.

Shimpei Ishido has been active in the field of international trade matters and international investment disputes for many years. He advises and represents governments and major corporations with regard to investment arbitration under ICSID, ICC, and UNCITRAL arbitration rules. He currently serves as a member of the Japanese delegation to UNCITRAL Working Group III (Investor–State Dispute Settlement Reform). He also advises the government and corporations regarding anti-dumping and countervailing measures and WTO dispute settlements proceedings concerning such trade remedy measures.

In addition, he usually provides his clients with general advice on a variety of international law issues, including investment protection, economic sanctions, government procurement, trade in services, e-commerce, sovereign and diplomatic immunities, law of the sea, and space law. His client engagement in these fields of international law includes:
i) capacity-building training on international investment law and trade in services to government officials of various states in the Asia-Pacific Region and Central Asia;
ii) advice on government procurement procedures covered by GPA and FTA/EPAs;
iii) advice on sovereign or diplomatic immunities issues concerning contracts between a foreign government/international organisation and a private entity;
iv) advice on international law issues arising from private entities' exploration of space resources on the Moon and other celestial bodies.

Before joining Nishimura & Asahi, he led, as legal counsel to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, the negotiation of Japan’s international investment agreements, including the investment and trade in services chapters of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the Japan–EU EPA, the ASEAN–Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership, the Japan–Australia EPA, the Japan-Mongolia EPA, and the Japan–Mozambique BIT.

He received an LLM in international law from University College London.

Kotaro has engaged in many restructuring cases through not only formal insolvency proceedings but also out-of-court workouts. From 2019 to 2023, he provided legal advice on cross-border M&A, restructuring/insolvency, disputes, and other corporate matters (with a focus on those related to Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Philippines) from our Singapore Office by leveraging the knowledge and experience in local legal and commercial practices and the connection with local professionals.

Minoru has worked at our Osaka Office since it was established in 2012, providing legal advice to various clients, especially those located in the Kansai area. He advises on a wide range of business matters, including drafting Japanese/English contracts, and resolving labor and business disputes. His strength is in responding to clients’ needs promptly and appropriately, and he provides expert practical advice to guide clients’ business decisions. In particular, in M&A transactions, he contributes to the completion of deals through both a deep understanding of his clients’ products/services and by looking ahead to account for the clients’ future development. He carries out cross-border transactions in a timely and accurate manner through collaboration with other professionals, as well as by utilizing his theoretical and practical understanding of international law, which he acquired through his experiences of studying in the United States and being seconded to a US law firm.

Makoto is known for his expertise in medium-to-large-scale project finance and development, including with respect to investor-side project composition, finance, and lender syndication matters.
Drawing upon his considerable experience of a broad range of financial transactions, including several hundred real estate finance transactions, Makoto is well qualified to advise clients from a multifaceted perspective on all stages of structuring, operating, and exit strategies for complex projects. He has particular experience advising on projects involving real estate funds, REIT, and regional banks. He also advises companies undergoing restructuring on financing and communication with financial institutions, and supports individuals and small and medium-sized enterprises on financial transactions and general corporate. matters in a timely and flexible manner.

Huong started her career at leading local and regional law firms with diversified national and international practices. In 2009, Huong began pursuing a master’s degree from the University of Melbourne, and after doing so, continued her legal career at a number of law firms. Her areas of expertise include M&A transactions, labor law, corporate law, real estate transactions, restructuring and insolvency, and compliance. Huong often advises clients on cross-border M&A deals in relation to real estate, banking and finance, services, and manufacturing. She also regularly supports clients in regard to the formation and registration of internal labor regulations, dealing with labor disputes, labor contract performance, and retrenchment. In addition, Huong assists clients with the incorporation, operation, restructuring, and termination of their businesses in Vietnam, including with respect to day-to-day commercial business, corporate governance, and compliance. In these areas, clients value her extensive experience and detailed knowledge of local laws and culture, as well as her timely, responsive, and effective support.

Huong is highly skilled at providing practical solutions that are tailored to clients' needs in regard to M&A, foreign investment, corporate governance and restructuring, contract law, employment, and market access in Vietnam. She has advised numerous international clients on various complex deals in a variety of heavily regulated industries, such as real estate, land and construction, trade and distribution, securities, and M&A filing requirements with respect to competition and antitrust laws. In addition to representing large corporations in a diverse range of business law matters, she also assists clients in negotiating and dealing with counterparties in order to identify any obstacles between the parties and achieve the parties’ goals. When clients require practical solutions for their business projects in Vietnam, they turn to Huong.

He understands and solves his client’s essential needs and challenges by leveraging his extensive domestic and international connections in the sports and entertainment field as well as his experience gained during secondment to the business side of a domestic sports management company.
He has assisted numerous companies in the area of Sports Digital Transformation (data business, sports betting, fantasy sports, NFT, sports tokens) and is experienced in cases involving a wide range of legal issues at the intersection of sports and technology. He is also the
Representative Director of the Council for Sports Ecosystem Promotion, an industry organization that aims to industrialize sports using digital transformation, etc., and is well versed in the latest trends and issues in the industry both domestically and internationally.

My main practice area is corporate crisis management.
After working on a number of corporate crisis management cases at Nishimura & Asahi, I moved to the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office where I handled various types of economic crimes, such as fraud, embezzlement, breach of trust, intellectual property infringement, professional negligence, and computer crime, as a public prosecutor. I then returned to Nishimura & Asahi and have continued to deal with corporate crisis management cases.
Based on my experience as a public prosecutor and as an attorney, I provide my clients specialized advice on general and white-collar crimes.
In addition, I have extensive experience in internal investigations, cooperation with formal requests from Japanese investigative authorities, disciplinary actions against employees involved in illegal activities, lawsuits against legal entities or persons who engaged in criminal conduct, investigative committees, compliance, bribery, product accidents, inspection fraud/quality fraud, cartels and bid rigging, trade secrets, whistleblower protection, fraudulent accounting, and violations of various laws and regulations.

Since 2010, he has been continuously handling transactions, disputes, and regulatory matters related to IT technology and the IT industry, intellectual property matters including measures against counterfeit products, and data protection matters concerning personal data and trade secrets. He also has abundant knowledge on cybersecurity practices and is registered as a registered information security specialist (national qualification in Japan). After studying in the U.S. and the U.K., he moved to Vietnam and then Thailand. Since then, he has been involved in the above-mentioned matters not only in Japan but also in Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, and other Southeast Asian countries. While there are few Japanese lawyers in Southeast Asia who specialize in the above-mentioned matters, he supports international companies by utilizing both his abundant knowledge and practical experience in the above-mentioned matters and his local experience and network in Southeast Asia.

Akihisa is a partner in our M&A team. He handles many domestic and international M&As, business alliances including JVs, business succession, equity finance, and hostile takeovers. He has abundant practical experience for both listed and unlisted companies and wide range of company sizes and transaction types, knowledge of cutting-edge practical trends and laws and regulations, and the ability to respond flexibly and hands-on.
In addition, he active in start-up finance support, IPO support, and daily legal support.
Recently, using the network and knowledge cultivated through studying abroad in Europe and the United States, he also deals with sustainability-related topics such as sustainable finance, including ESG investment and impact investment, social enterprise, B Corp certification, and social IPO.

Since joining Nishimura & Asahi, Akira has been involved in numerous corporate and M&A deals, including mergers, acquisitions, corporate reorganizations, capital and business alliances, joint ventures, and take-private transactions by PE funds. In particular, Akira has advised on many cross-border transactions. While seconded to ITOCHU Corporation in 2019-2020, Akira was involved in energy- and infrastructure-related transactions, and he has continued to advise on these transactions since his return.

Nobuaki’s practice mainly focuses on M&A and general corporate matters. Since returning from a secondment to the corporate strategy division of a Japanese listed company and advanced studies in the U.S., he has been involved in a wide range of deals involving Japanese companies and domestic and foreign private equity funds. He provides clear, timely legal advice based on a deep understanding of the client’s business and the specifics of a given case, utilizing the experience he gained assisting with management decisions while on secondment. He plays a leading role in every case he handles, and provides professional guidance throughout the process.

He has extensive experience handling difficult, complex deals, particularly those involving listed companies, including integrations, capital and business alliances, dissolution of parent-subsidiary relationships through TOBs, and spin-off and carve-out transactions involving multiple jurisdictions. His particular strength is handling difficult, high-pressure cases involving conflicts of interest, including hostile takeovers, white-knighting, shareholder activism, and other battles for control of management.

In recent years, he has developed an ESG practice for listed companies, including ESG due diligence in M&A, establishment of human rights policies, implementation of human rights due diligence as part of corporate governance, and dealing with environmental activists and human rights NGOs, while remaining mindful of investor relations.

He mainly handles cyber security. As a cyber security analyst at the National Police Agency, he had been engaged in investigations and research, such as analysis of cyber attacks, for over 10 years.
He advises companies on cases involving crisis management, scandals, and various cyber incidents. Recently, he has handled many security incidents within companies, including ransomware, personal data breaches, and internal crimes.

Akiko has worked at our Osaka office since it was established in 2012, and deals with various corporate matters. She has extensive experience in the areas of M&A, corporate governance, compliance, and labor law, and has spent many years dealing with regulatory compliance matters for financial institutions. She also possesses a deep understanding of financial regulations such as the Banking Act. After studying in the United States and being seconded to the London branch of a Japanese bank, she has focused on cross-border transactions, and in cooperation with local counsels, she also supports the global business development of Japanese clients. By utilizing her wide-ranging experience, she seeks to understand each client’s unique problems and interests and provide comprehensive advice to address their needs.