Chambers Global Practice Guides - International Trade 2022 (Japan chapter)

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.

Noriko advises various types of clients, from the public and private sectors, in the field of international trade law. Noriko’s strength when advising clients is her ability to maintain an overarching view while duly paying attention to details specific to the case and client. These multifaceted perspectives are based on her experience working for and with various stakeholders in the field.

In particular, Noriko worked in the Appellate Body Secretariat within the WTO (World Trade Organization) Secretariat. The WTO agreements provide the fundamental rules for international trade, and the Appellate Body engages in the dispute settlement proceedings between WTO Members regarding those agreements.

Subsequently, Noriko worked as Legal Counsel to the Energy Charter Secretariat. The Energy Charter Secretariat, located in Brussels, is the secretariat of the Energy Charter Treaty, which is a multilateral trade and investment agreement in the field of energy.

In addition, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, Noriko actively participated in the negotiations of multiple EPAs (economic partnership agreements – how the Japanese Government describes comprehensive FTAs (free trade agreements)).

Furthermore, Noriko worked as in-house counsel at the largest steelmaking company in Japan, and in particular, participated in anti-dumping and safeguard investigations conducted by foreign authorities, from the perspective of an exporter.

At N&A, Noriko continues to assist clients in anti-dumping and safeguard investigations abroad. She also frequently advises various clients in relation to the WTO agreements (including involvement in WTO dispute settlement proceedings) and EPAs, as well as relevant domestic laws (such as those on export control, rules of origin and customs classifications).

Kojiro Fujii specializes in the fields of competition law and international trade law. He also covers emerging areas of digital policy/regulations and public policy/regulations, such as those related to sustainability. His expertise in these areas is frequently recognized by international and domestic legal publications. Kojiro also is regularly ranked by Chambers (Band 1 International Trade, Japan and Band 2 TMT, Japan) and Who’s Who Legal (Competition). He achieved the highest ranking in the “International Trade and Economic Security” category of Nikkei’s “Most successful lawyers” (as voted by Japanese companies and peer lawyers) in 2022; he was recognized by Asian Legal Business as one of the Top 15 Technology, Media and Telecommunications Lawyers in Asia in 2023; and he was shortlisted for the FT Innovative Lawyers Awards Asia-Pacific as the Most Innovative Practitioner for his work covering those areas in 2024.

In addition to his career at N&A, he served as the deputy director of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan, where he handled several important WTO disputes on behalf of the Japanese government. He also worked at a highly reputable international law firm in Washington DC, where he focused on antitrust matters.

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.