Toyobo Co., Ltd. - Joint venture with Mitsubishi Corporation

Hiromune specializes in domestic and cross-border M&A cases, including hostile takeovers defenses, and organizational restructuring. Hiromune also handles a wide range of compliance-related cases in different practice areas, such as accounting fraud and antitrust violation cases, fact-finding investigations by board members and various corporate authorities, and the establishment of prevention measures. In addition to his broad expertise in general corporate matters, Hiromune has been advising well-known Japanese listed and blue-chip companies on general corporate law cases such as data protection cases, corporate governance cases, and defense cases against shareholder activists. Based on this extensive experience, Hiromune is committed to providing comprehensive and practical solutions to support his clients aiming for further challenges and growth.

Since joining the firm in 2003, he has gained experience mainly in the corporate field. Following a one-year secondment from 2008 to the New York Branch of a Japanese financial institution, he worked at a local Thai law firm for two years starting in 2011 to deepen his knowledge of a wide range of fields, particularly concerning the Kingdom of Thailand. In July 2013, he was appointed as the representative of the Bangkok Office along with establishment of the office. He has the advantage of communicating closely with local Thai lawyers and providing appropriate and professional legal advice quickly. Currently based in Bangkok, he is widely involved in M&A, labor, and international transactions, such as general corporate legal matters, investment, joint ventures, and acquisitions in Southeast Asian countries, mainly concerning the Kingdom of Thailand. He is involved in many activities, including the establishment of Japanese companies and organizations in Thailand and other Asian countries, as well as the subsequent issues, seminars, and articles on internal compliance of the companies.

Having worked as a partner in a prestigious law firm in China for about 3 years, in September 2010, Cuiping decided to come to Japan and work as one of the leaders of our China Practice Team, so as to take a step closer to her clients willing to expand their business globally and to help resolve their foreign legal issues more timely and actively. As an international lawyer specialized in the legal and business practice of both China and Japan, she has participated in plenty of investment and M&A projects between China and Japan using her fluent Chinese and Japanese. She also helps her clients to expand their business both domestically and globally using her strong social network established via numerous cross-border projects. Besides general corporate practice and corporate governance, she also devotes herself to cutting-edge legal issues such as the protection of data or personal information, presents creative resolutions to her clients, and provides them with continuous support on their overseas business. She also brings the latest legal news regarding China and Japan to her clients proactively not only by publishing articles, but also by attending multiple business seminars as a speaker.

Masanori is known for his extensive experience in a wide range of legal matters in Myanmar, Bangladesh, Thailand, and other Asian countries. Masanori also has significant expertise in supporting matters in relation to Business and Human Rights. Masanori has worked as a secondee at local law firms in Singapore and Myanmar, and as an in-house lawyer at a major Japanese international electronics manufacturer. By leveraging his insight into Asian markets and industries, Masanori provides flexible and practical solutions to the challenges and difficulties that clients face in their daily business, as well as in regard to developing markets and new legal issues. Masanori also provides advice on domestic and international matters in a variety of legal fields, including M&A, joint ventures, and other corporate transactions, as well as financial transactions, labour matters, and restructuring transactions.

Mr. Tatsumi mainly advises clients on international and domestic corporate transactions such as mergers, MBOs/LBOs, joint ventures, venture capital investments and other types of M&A transactions, as well as general corporate matters and commercial disputes relating to such corporate transactions; advising major business companies, financial institutions, and private equity funds, both in Japan and overseas.
 
 Mr. Tatsumi is one of only a few lawyers in Japan who has been seconded as an attorney to the Ministry of Justice, and during his tenure there he had a significant role in important governmental activities, such as the amendment of the Companies Act.
 
 Drawing on his significant expertise and deep knowledge, he has authored numerous books and articles in the area of M&A, as well as general corporate law. These publications provide practical solutions to complex legal issues, and bolster Mr. Tatsumi's reputation as a highly respected legal practitioner.

Mr. Umeda has a wide range of experience handling corporate matters for Japanese clients investing in the U.S. and Mexico. He was seconded to a Mexican law firm (Mexico City and Queretaro) from 2016 to 2018, where he was involved broadly in corporate matters concerning Japanese companies operating in Mexico. Since 2019, he has provided practical support to Japanese companies located in the U.S. and Latin America in regard to M&A, general corporate legal affairs, compliance, labor management, disputes, and debt collection, while giving due consideration to local practices. In addition to his work on U.S.- and Mexico- related matters, Mr. Umeda also utilizes his connections with leading law firms in Latin America to allow for collaboration at a local level and thereby provide more flexible support to clients.

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.

After serving for the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (Japan) from 1999 to 2005, she joined our firm in 2011, where she acquired extensive experience in the areas of corporate affairs, labour, restructuring and insolvency. Since 2014, she started to practice from our Bangkok Office, and she has provided legal services to Japanese clients by engaging in close communication with local Thai lawyers. She is responsive to the needs of each client and provides satisfactory legal services in a timely and flexible manner with a deep knowledge of Thai law and practice. Being based in Bangkok, her practice focuses on a wide range of areas, including M&A, joint venture, cross-border transactions, labour, compliance, and general corporate affairs in order to broadly support Japanese companies expanding to or withdrawing from the market in Thailand. She also lectures at legal seminars and publishes various papers related to legal practice in Thailand.

Nuttaros Tangprasitti specialises in corporate and commercial law. She regularly assists both international and domestic corporate clients (limited liability companies and partnerships, stock corporation in several industries) on the relevant laws of Thailand, which includes foreign direct investment, legal due diligence, M&A and cross-border M&A, joint venture, compliance, banking and finance. In addition to supporting clients on the above and a multitude of different legal formalities, she also has expertise in advising on various investment promotion policies of the Board of Investment (BOI), as well as compliance with foreign business, other laws on salient points for shareholders and joint venture agreements, which includes laws on immigration and foreign work under Thai law. Nuttaros speaks at many seminars and takes an active role in educating the clients on issues relevant to their businesses and her practice areas. She also writes various articles and newsletters on cutting-edge topics in several legal areas, which are widely distributed to existing and potential clients. Nuttaros aims to ensure the lawyers on her team are constantly developing and upgrading their skills, to ensure they meet or exceed the high professional standards of Nishimura & Asahi. She is committed to ensuring that both she and our firm deliver top-quality services to our clients and strong internal support for our colleagues. She recently began drafting a manual on several aspects of Thai law, as part of an “Investment promotion scheme,” and also wrote several newsletters on corporate law, and banking and finance laws. She also recently authored an article on the impact of Tax Reduction for Land and Buildings, which received excellent feedback from our clients, particularly those who are land and building owners. Nuttaros is committed to building a strong and progressive corporate and commercial practice, which also incorporates tax law, by adapting to new ideas in the legal industry.