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Career Guidance Report: Legal Education Project - Shibuya Makuhari Junior & Senior High School
- Nishimura & Asahi's legal education project
Career Guidance Session - overview
Nishimura & Asahi partner Junya Kokaji, with associates Mariko Tokunaga and Yuriko Kawakita, held a career guidance session for students at Shibuya Kyoiku Gakuen Makuhari Junior and Senior High School. This was a part of our firm’s legal education project. Participants ranged from third-year junior high to third-year senior high school students. Junya, Mariko, and Yuriko, all graduates of Shibuya Makuhari Senior High School, held an interactive lecture and panel discussion where they discussed how to pursue a career in law, their current practice areas, and preparing for university entrance exams. The session was very well received by the nearly full room of lively students, who engaged with the presentation and stuck around for questions afterwards.

Lecture - legal profession and corporate law using case studies
Held in a school conference room after school, the session began with an introduction of the legal profession. This included their experience with process of entering University and the firm, a breakdown of what corporate legal matters are, and the composition of a law firm. The lawyers used case studies of real-life corporate legal situations to familiarize students with the typical problem solving process of a corporate lawyer.
Panel Discussion - from university entrance exams to corporate lawyer work
The second part of the session was a panel discussion. The three participating lawyers responded to questions posed by students in advance. They engaged in discussions based on their respective experiences, covering topics from the role of corporate lawyers, how to balance preparation for university entrance exams with club activities at school, preparation for the bar exam, and the diversity and culture at Nishimura & Asahi.
Q&A – student questions
After the session, many students asked the lawyers questions. Questions evoked discussion and included, “what made you apply for law faculty during the university entrance exams?” “what type of work do you do?” and “how much English proficiency is required for daily work and when studying abroad?” After the discussions, a student shared that the session had been helpful in addressing his concerns about applying to study law.
Associate Mariko Tokunaga first became motivated to pursue a career as a corporate lawyer when she attended a similar session while she was in high school. Now, the roles are reversed. She took the initiative to arrange this career guidance session. She reflected back, saying, “I hope that the today’s career guidance session provided some of the participating students with the opportunity to consider a career in law.”