Japanese Anti-monopoly Act - Annotated

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.

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.

Madoka advises clients on various matters of competition law, including domestic and international cartels, bid-rigging, M&A transactions, investigations by the JFTC, leniency applications and general antitrust law compliance. She is especially active in cross-border transactions. She has represented clients in connection with investigations into various global cartels, involving air cargo, marine hoses, TFT-LCDs, airlines, and bearings, and also in various merger-control cases, including a vertical integration between semiconductor equipment manufacturers, and major global merger transactions in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries. She has particular strength and experience handling IT-industry mega deals. Madoka is also active in advising in the international trade area, in particular, government procurement and export control. In addition, she advises on laws preventing unfair competition, including trade secret cases. She served as lead counsel to Nippon Steel Corporation in multinational trade secret litigation against POSCO (a South Korean steel company), a landmark case in this area, and successfully negotiated a favorable settlement for her client. She was a member of the Subcommittee on Unfair Trade Policies and Measures of the Industrial Structure Council at the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry from 2013 to 2023.

He has extensive experience handling cases involving complex legal issues, such as mergers and acquisitions by a public-private investment fund in the context of a business turnaround, a high-value dispute between a securities company and a stock exchange, adoption of anti-takeover defense measures for the first time in Japan, expansion of foreign businesses into the Middle East involving geopolitical risks, and commercial arbitration involving sizable claims regarding M&A price adjustment clauses. Recently, he been advising on risk assessments for transactions, contract drafting, voluntary self-disclosure to government authorities, responses to enforcement actions by the authorities, and establishment of internal control systems with respect to economic security regulations. In particular, he engages in numerous transactions involving economic sanctions, export controls and other economic security regulations regarding conflicts between the US and China over technology competition and human rights issues in Myanmar, Iran and Russia.

Tomoyuki Numata specializes in crisis management and competition law compliance, with a wealth of experience in cases that require understanding of IT and technology. 

As a partner in the crisis management department, he has extensive experience in dealing with cases such as window dressing, bribery of overseas civil servants, fraudulent acquisition of confidential information, violation of the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act, quality fraud in the manufacturing industry, and embezzlement by employees. In these cases, he was responsible for fact-finding and investigating the cause. He has also taken a number of strategic actions, such as dealing with government and investigative authorities (including experience of commitment agreement with the JFTC and judicial transactions), communicating with the mass media, and formulating recurrence prevention measures. 

In the field of antitrust law / competition law, he is involved in cartel / bid negotiation cases including criminal cases / administrative cases, unilateral acts cases such as private monopoly, unfair trading methods, etc. He also handles a lot of authorities’ responses. In addition, he has a wealth of experience in dealing with domestic and overseas business combination investigation by the Japan Fair Trade Commission and overseas competition authorities. 

He also provides a lot of advice on creating a legal compliance system such as anti-bribery system, competition law management system, whistleblowing system, internal audit and monitoring. In particular, he is familiar with system development utilizing advanced technologies such as machine learning, data analytics, and text mining. 

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.

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.

Nobu Tanaka is a partner in our Antitrust and International Trade practice team dealing with merger control, cartel/bid rigging, monopoly, unfair trade practice and dispute related cases. Nobu has much experience in dealing with cross-border merger control, international cartels and cross-border litigation cases. Through his 3 years experience in the U.S., Nobu has a deep understanding of the legal, business and cultural difference between Japan and other countries and he has expertise in explaining Japanese laws in a plain manner. Nobu always tries to understand clients’ interest and clients’ businesses deeply so that he can provide better and flexible solution. Nobu has good reputation in deep understanding of industries and business. In addition to antitrust cases, Nobu also handles various non-antitrust matters, such as cross-border commercial litigation, internal investigation, white-collar matters and cross-borer corporate transaction and general corporate matters including advice relating to new business in Japan. He also has a good reputation in timely and efficient communication. Nobu has LL.M degree at Stanford Law School (2017) and J.D. degree at University of Tokyo School of Law (magna cum laude). Nobu is fluent in English.

Mihoko has extensive experience in the area of antitrust law, including merger filings in Japan and foreign jurisdictions, and she has handled many cases involving strategic alliances, distribution transactions, establishment of compliance systems, and antitrust investigations. She also has extensive experience in cross-border transactions, including joint ventures, agency agreements, license agreements, and other cross-border business development support and handling from an antitrust perspective. She has experience in handling projects in a wide range of fields, including manufacturing, energy, distribution, finance, and high-tech companies. She provides detailed support on various arrangements, from antitrust risk assessment and schedule formulation at the initial stage of the project to negotiations with related parties including the authorities and closing.