Yuko Kawai is a partner at Nishimura & Asahi. Yuko has continuously advised a multitude of global and prominent companies on data privacy issues, including data breaches and security incidents, data privacy structures in the design of their business, cross-border data transfers, data governance, and global data compliance. Due to her experience and expertise, she is one of the partners leading the firm’s data privacy practice group, which issues monthly newsletters and publishes books concerning data privacy.

She has served as a member of the Tokyo Data Platform Case Study Project Review Board, held by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, and as a member of the Committee for Promoting Open-data in Public Transportation Sectors of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism of Japan.
She has also had the unique experience of working at the Ad Technology Legal department and Public Policy department of a leading Internet company in Japan, where she was deeply involved in various matters concerning data in the realms of digital trades, data privacy and big data.

During her many years of professional practice as a corporate lawyer, she has also conducted transactional and advisory work in cross-border and domestic M&As, corporate splits, joint ventures and business alliances, and general corporate matters for listed companies.

Recent activities

11/2021

Data Privacy And Breach: Applying The Lessons Learnt In 2020

Seminars

9/2021

The Reality and the Challenges of Legal Practice Under the Covid Pandemic

Seminars

4/2021

A New Era for Data Privacy Issues in 2021

Seminars

Education

2013

Columbia Law School (LL.M.)

2000

Keio University (LL.B.)

Professional experience

2021 -

Member, Tokyo Data Platform Case Study Project Review Board, Bureau of Digital Services, Tokyo Metropolitan Government

2021 -

Member, "Special Committee on Global Data Governance" of Z Holdings Corporation

2020 -

Member, Committee for Promoting Open-data in Public Transportation Sectors, of Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism of Japan

2019 -

Statutory Auditor, Association of Genetic Information

2017 - 2019

Statutory Auditor, Council for Protection of Individual Genetic Information

2013 - 2014

Yahoo Japan Corporation