The Nikkei Most Successful Lawyers in 2024

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.

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.

Noriya advises national and international clients from various industries, with a focus on multi-national data protection law projects, such as drafting policy, data transfer agreements and out-sourcing agreements, IT compliance questions, and data breach issues. Since he has experience working with local counsel in more than 80 jurisdictions, he has in depth knowledge of the similarities and differences among data protection laws in many jurisdictions. He can provide his advice taking into account the difference of Japanese laws and other main data protection laws such as the GDPR, CCPA, and PIPL (China).

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.

Kazuhiro Takei has extensive expertise representing Japanese public companies on a variety of matters, including M&A, corporate governance and digital transformation, corporate law, securities law, shareholders meeting, consumer law, and tax law. 

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.

While mainly focusing on financial transactions and financial regulations, he has also advised on a variety of projects such as international disputes regarding financial products and M&A transactions (especially those involving financial institutions). Projects he has represented include an acquisition of shares in Seiyu by KKR and Rakuten in 2021, the restructuring of KDDI’s financial business in 2020, and Aozora Bank’s capital restructuring to repay governmental funds in 2013. He won the “Deal of the Year” award at Japan Achievement Awards 2014/2015 hosted by FinanceAsia and the “Japan Deal of the Year” award at Japan Law Awards 2015 sponsored by Asian Legal Business (ALB) with respect to Suntory Holdings’ acquisition of Beam, Inc. in 2014. His practice area also includes international taxation. Taking advantage of his considerable experience in advising on international financial transactions, he provides clients with practical tax advice both at the stage of transaction structuring and during tax disputes, especially in relation to complicated financial instruments. He successfully represented Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance in contesting a tax assessment on a cross-border reinsurance transaction ceding earthquake-related risks. He is also very active in academia. He was a Visiting Associate Professor at the University of Tokyo, Graduate Schools of Law and Politics from 2010 to 2013 and has been a lecturer at Keio University Law School since 2014. He has authored numerous academic articles such as Corpus Juris Finance (Co-author; Shojihomu Kenkyukai, 2003), Comparative Income Taxation - Fourth Edition (Co-author; Kluwer Law International, 2019), and Analysis of Issue Prices in Public Offerings (Co-author; Yuhikaku, 2015).

Takefumi Sato is a partner in the M&A and general corporate practice groups at Nishimura & Asahi. He has represented clients in various M&A transactions and other kinds of domestic and cross-border commercial transactions. His broad M&A experience includes business mergers and strategic alliances involving listed companies and going-private transactions via cash-out schemes, management buyouts, and joint ventures, and covers a wide range of industries such as manufacturing and financial services. He has also advised companies on defending against unsolicited bids and hostile takeover attempts. In addition, he has a wealth of expertise in matters related to the Companies Act and the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act and has frequently counseled clients on corporate governance matters, including advising on shareholders meetings and providing support for business judgments. He also lectures and publishes in these areas. Moreover, he has recently expanded his practice to emerging legal issues in situations requiring difficult business decisions.

Mr. Kimeda’s main areas of practice are Corporate Crisis Management and Litigation. As for Corporate Crisis Management, he has extensive experience in corporate scandal cases, including window-dressing, misrepresentation of financial statements, insider trading, antitrust (bid rigging, price cartels, and abuse of dominant position), product defects, misleading representations of products, divulging confidential information, bribery, political funding, money laundering, breach of industrial regulations, and factory accidents. In these types of cases he has specific expertise on the issues of internal investigations, third party committee investigations, defending against criminal and administrative investigations, public relations, rebuilding compliance systems, reforming corporate governance, and handling the related civil litigation. He also serves as an outside whistleblower hotline channel for a number of companies. As for litigation, he has considerable experience in tax disputes, shareholders disputes, and other types of corporate litigation. He is the author of numerous legal articles and has also been involved in the process of making laws and regulations. He has been recognized as one of the “Most successful lawyers” by the NIKKEI for the last several years as below.

2023 Corporate Crisis Management category 1st
2021 Corporate Crisis Management category 1st
2020 Corporate Crisis Management category 1st
2018 Corporate Crisis Management category 2nd
2014 Corporate Crisis Management category 2nd
2011 Corporate Crisis Management category 3rd
2024 Corporate Legal Affairs category 17th
2022 Corporate Legal Affairs category 9th
2016 Corporate Legal Affairs category 10th
2015 Corporate Legal Affairs category 8th
2013 Corporate Legal Affairs category 2nd
2012 Corporate Legal Affairs category 4th

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.

In the area of Robotics/Artificial Intelligence, Shin Fukuoka mainly handles AI, Big Data and IoT. He acts as a Member of The Cabinet Office’s “Committee on Human-centered AI Social Principles” and Committee Member of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry Investigative Commission on "The AI and Data Contract Guidelines Review Committee". In the area of Corporate, he mainly handles M&A and Corporate Governance. In the area of Restructuring/Insolvency, he has been involved in numerous restructuring and insolvency cases, with a focus on cross-border insolvency cases, representing both debtor parties and creditor parties. Most recently, he represented Daiichi Chuo Kisen Kaisha and Japan Airlines as a legal counsel of the debtor and Elpida, Takefuji and Mt.Gox as a creditor’s counsel. He has also contributed to many publications, including "Law and Strategy of the Internet of Things and Artificial Intelligence", "Artificial Intelligence: Law and Issues" and "Data Contract Law".

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.

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.

Tsuyoshi Ito has significant experience in tax counseling and tax controversies and has represented major corporations in numerous tax disputes and tax lawsuits. In March 2021, he won a significant corporate tax dispute that challenged a tax assessment of approximately USD 367 million in taxable income before the Tokyo High Court after a protracted seven-year battle. In August 2014, he won a tax dispute involving securitization transactions of domestic housing loans before the Tokyo High Court. In addition to excellent achievements in major tax disputes, he generally advises on domestic and cross-border taxation issues in various transactions, such as M&A, joint ventures, fund formation and equity/debt investments.

Since she joined Nishimura & Asahi in 2004, she has been involved in various types of corporate matters, including M&A, compliance and corporate group internal controls. She handles in day-to-day matters as well as strategic and special situations, and can provide business advice. With respect to corporate governance matters, she provides practical advice on the full spectrum of corporate governance matters including administration of shareholder meetings, company organization structures, disclosure, administration of the board of directors, board evaluations, executive compensation, and company indemnification. She also has extensive experience in the field of consumer law matters, such as how to respond to consumer-law related regulations, consumer organizations, and investigations by authorities. She has expertise and provides advice on advertising, marketing activities, and e-commerce.

He graduated from the University of Tokyo Graduate School of Frontier Sciences (M.S.) in 2004. Due to his technical background, he advises clients on various technology matters, including artificial intelligence (AI), generative AI, data protection, data utilization, medical field, healthcare, software, systems, cloud computing, OSS, information technology, DX, and quantum computing. His time at the Akira Hirose laboratory at the University of Tokyo provided him with deep knowledge of artificial intelligence (AI) and generative AI because he studied neural networks, which is the main technology of artificial intelligence (AI) and generative AI. He successfully passed the Japanese patent attorney examination in 2002, and he has been admitted in Japan since 2009. He advises clients on various intellectual property law matters due to his technical background and knowledge as a Japanese patent attorney. Regarding dispute matters related to intellectual property, he has handled patent litigation, litigation regarding employee inventions and trade secret litigation, among others. He especially has considerable experience in trade secret disputes, and he provides a support service on countermeasures against divulging trade secrets, including drafting company regulations, data management practice, and employee training.

Akira’s main practice areas are crisis management and enterprise compliance, and she has practical experience in internal investigations and formulation of measures to prevent recurrence in a wide range of white-collar crimes, including insider trading, market manipulation, violations of the Anti-trust Act, accounting fraud, and embezzlement and breach of trust.
She has experience being involved in international white collar crime cases, such as international cartel investigations by overseas authorities in Europe and the United States.
She has 5 years of experience working at The Consumer Affairs Agency and was engaged in enforcing the Premiums and Representations Act and the Act on Specified Commercial Transactions. Based on her wealth of experience, she provides practical advice for clients from the viewpoint of prevention in order to comply with these laws.