Chambers Global 2023: Top rankings for Nishimura & Asahi

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).

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. He also served as a member of the International Court of Arbitration of the ICC (with his second term ending in June 2024), and has been a Council Member of the ICC Institute of World Business Law since 2018. In addition, he has been a member of SIAC’s Court of Arbitration since 2013.

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.

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.

Since 2002, Hiroshi has been a partner in the firm’s M&A and corporate practice area. His experience ranges from M&A (business integration, acquisition and organizational restructuring between operating companies, acquisition of listed/unlisted companies by funds, going private, cross-border M&A, etc.) to general corporate law (general meetings of shareholders, corporate governance, various commercial transactions and contracts, financing, personnel and labor, response to legal revisions, disputes, crisis management, etc.). While he has extensive experience in large-scale and complex M&A transactions, he also provides efficient and effective advice depending on the status of the project in areas such as overseas M&A of Japanese companies, expansion into Japan by overseas companies, and support for startup businesses. In crisis management and dispute cases, he provide practical and effective advice to ensure clients achieve their goals based on a thorough understanding of the circumstances faced by the client. His clients are diverse, including domestic and overseas companies, financial institutions, and investment funds.

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.

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.

Tatsuya Tanigawa is a partner at Nishimura & Asahi, and has represented Japanese and non-Japanese buyers and sellers in numerous cross-border transactions in various industries, including stock and asset acquisitions, private equity and venture capital investments, joint ventures, and strategic alliances. He has handled both inbound and outbound transactions, including many public company transactions. He is committed to finding solutions for his clients in any transaction.

Ryutaro Nakayama specializes in General Corporate and M&A work, and advises clients on a broad range of issues and transactions relating to M&A, Japanese corporate, securities, tax, and merger control laws, and regulations specific to various industries. He is a leading lawyer in the field of competition law in Japan, and possesses a unique set of skills and experience, drawn from his extensive experience handling M&A, corporate, and merger control cases and transactions. He has obtained transaction clearances from competition authorities even where the resulting combined market share exceeded 50% in the relevant markets. He has led Nishimura & Asahi’s Africa Practice Team since its formation in 2014. He has established a strong network of connections with Japanese entrepreneurs and businesses that target the African continent, as well as with leading law firms based in Africa. He has been named a leading lawyer in the fields of Corporate/M&A and/or competition law by various publications, including Chambers Global, Chambers Asia-Pacific, and The Nikkei’s annual rankings of “Most Successful Lawyers.” He was appointed the Managing Partner of Nishimura & Asahi in April 2021.

Hikaru took the initiative in launching the firm’s ASEAN practice in 2010, and since she has supported various Japanese and international companies' new entry, expansion of their business, strategic investment, group restructuring, risk management, disputes, as well as exit deals. With her deep understanding of the nature of issues, as well as the business background and cultural and political context in each country, she is known for providing practical advice by working closely with the clients' business team in each jurisdiction. As a key member of our Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee, she has played a key role in many of our diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, particularly over the past few years. Our firm was named the winner of the region’s Law Firm: Diversity & Inclusion Category at FT Innovative Lawyers Awards Asia-Pacific 2021 and winner of Outstanding Firm for D&I (Regional) at Chambers D&I Awards Asia-Pacific 2020.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

With a strong background in commercial transactions and corporate governance and compliance, Yusuke focuses on business and human rights, advising companies on various related issues, including the formulation of human rights norms, human rights due diligence, stakeholder engagement, the formulation of human rights clauses in contracts, compliance with modern slavery laws, and consulting on transactions with countries with human rights issues. He is a core member of the Business and Human Rights Projects Team of the Committee on International Human Rights within the Japan Federation of Bar Associations and spreads awareness of the field through lectures at universities and law schools, and by contributing to various publications and seminars. He currently serves as the representative of the firm’s Yangon office providing wide-ranging legal advice to international investors and companies investing and doing business in Myanmar. In addition, Yusuke is involved in a broad range of lawmaking activities in Myanmar to bring their laws into alignment with international standards and norms, and was the first foreign member of the Myanmar Association of Insolvency Practitioners.

Kentaro has been involved in a significant number of capital market transactions including Euro bond offerings, global bond offerings, IPOs, follow-on offerings and convertible bonds offerings, conducted by both Japanese issuers and foreign issuers, as the issuer’s counsel or underwriter’s counsel. In addition, he advises on compliance with Japanese disclosure and reporting requirements.

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.

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.

Ing-Chian is a lead partner of our Taiwan practice group. As one of the few Taiwanese lawyers based in Japan, she handles a wide variety of matters for clients that conduct business in relation to Taiwan, such as M&A, finance, real estate, competition law/antitrust law, IP, and other international legal matters.
Notably, she was the first Taiwanese lawyer ever to be registered as a Gaikokuho-Jimu-Bengoshi (Registered Foreign Lawyer in Japan) qualified to practice law in Taiwan. She is based in Japan, but serves as a Co-Representative of our Taipei office, and provides our Japanese and Taiwanese clients with seamless, timely legal support for both their inbound and outbound legal needs.

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.

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.

Nobuhiko Harada specializes in Japanese and cross-border asset finance transactions for aircraft, vessels, marine cargo containers, factory facilities, as well as other finance transactions for real estate, M&A finance, and DIP finance. He has vast experience of JOL/JOLCO transactions for aircraft, vessels, marine cargo containers, and other assets. He also has broad experience in insolvency and business restructuring (both in-court and out-of-court procedures) of various businesses including airlines, ship owners, hotel operators, golf course operators, real-estate business operators, trading companies and their subsidiaries in Asian countries. In addition to the abovementioned fields, he has expertize in airport business and the regulatory compliance of new businesses.

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.

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.

Tomohiro’s practice focuses on M&A, joint ventures, and general corporate matters, with a particular emphasis on cross-border transactions. In the area of M&A, he has advised on many acquisitions of foreign companies by Japanese companies, MBOs and other de-listings of Japanese listed companies, and mergers and other integrations between listed companies. In the area of joint ventures, he has advised on numerous overseas joint venture transactions between Japanese companies and foreign companies. Over the last few years, he has also been advising clients in the gaming industry, and is the only Japanese attorney ranked in the Gaming & Gambling category of Chambers Global 2022 and Chambers Asia-Pacific 2022.

Masahiro Heike specializes in international trade law. From 2016 to 2018, he worked at the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry as an in-government lawyer, and handled numerous WTO disputes and trade negotiations and was responsible for the trade policies of other jurisdictions including the United States and China. Currently, he is involved in a wide range of matters including WTO dispute settlement cases, domestic and foreign trade remedy cases (anti-dumping, safeguards), government research related to international trade law, and the handling of tariffs and origin relations.

Masaru Ono is a Former Representative Partner, and has been working to open up and develop new finance areas, such as by laying the groundwork for the introduction of securitization in Japan.  Outside the finance sector, he also provides strategic advice on corporate crisis management, international disputes, and new projects that require the expertise and organizational strength of his practice groups, as well as on strategies that are not necessarily covered by conventional practices, precedents, or legal interpretations.  

By acting as a bridge between the practical, academic, educational, and legislative fields, he played a major role in publishing the “CORPUS JURIS FINANCE” and establishing securitization in Japan.  He also was called upon to provide his expert opinion as a witness before the Diet of Japan on the Trust Law and the Special Law on the Assignment of Claims.  In addition, he has participated in the Legislative Council, Financial Council, etc., has lectured at Hitotsubashi University Law School, and has acted as a visiting professor at the University of Tokyo for more than a decade. "

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.

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).