Nishimura & Asahi Receives Outstanding Awards at ALB Japan Law Awards 2025

Hiroyuki heads our international dispute resolution practice. He specializes in international commercial litigation, arbitration, and mediation, and has represented many international clients, including multinational manufacturers, banking and securities firms, insurance companies, and information media companies, in disputes involving M&A, antitrust laws, corporate governance, insurance laws, intellectual property, defamation, joint ventures, licensing, construction, and other commercial matters, as well as international bankruptcy proceedings. He has been involved in a number of international arbitrations as counsel, sole arbitrator, and co-arbitrator (including chair) before the ICC, JCAA, AAA-ICDR, VIAC, KCAB, and SIAC.

Hiroyuki serves as Vice President of the Japan Association of Arbitrators and as Chief Director of the Japan International Mediation Center in Kyoto; formerly, he served as the Vice Chair of the Arbitration Committee of the IBA Legal Practice Division, and as Co-Chair of the Dispute Resolution and Arbitration Committee at the IPBA (2016-2020). From 2013 to 2016, he taught international arbitration and international dispute resolution at the University of Tokyo, School of Law as a visiting professor. He also served as a member of the International Court of Arbitration of the ICC (second term, through June 2024), a Council Member of the ICC Institute of World Business Law (ongoing, since 2018), and a member of the Court of Arbitration of the SIAC (2013-2024).
 

Akihiro’s experience covers product liability, contractual claims, mass tort claims, and tax disputes, in various industries, in particular in the pharmaceutical and automotive industries. He has also handled disputes arising from M&A transactions, disputes involving construction sites in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, and disputes arising from the termination of distribution agreements. He has achieved significant results in international arbitrations, including emergency arbitration proceedings under the rules of the ICC, SIAC, AAA-ICDR, and JCAA. He also advised clients in connection with US civil actions, including class actions, and Japanese judicial assistance for foreign court proceedings.

In one notable case, he successfully defended a Japanese trading company against six large vicarious liability lawsuits, involving claims totaling JPY 48.3 billion, filed by claimants including an affiliate of a US-headquartered investment bank and a US hedge fund. He also recovered JPY 13.3 billion for Shionogi & Co. in an action challenging a tax assessment relating to an in-kind contribution of a partnership interest in a cross-border reorganization for the development of a drug for AIDS. He is currently representing a pharmaceutical company in one of the largest product liability lawsuits in Japan.

He is a graduate of The University of Tokyo (LL.B., 1993) and Harvard Law School (LL.M., 2003), and is licensed to practice law in Japan and New York. He served as a Japanese district court judge from 1998 until 2000, and worked at Arnold & Porter (Washington, D.C.) from 2003 until 2004. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.

He is the author of various books and articles in the areas of litigation and international arbitration, including Yasuhei Taniguchi et al. eds., Civil Procedure in Japan (contributor, Juris Publishing). He was awarded the "Dispute Resolution Lawyer of the Year" at the ALB Japan Law Awards in 2022.

He has an extensive track record representing issuers, managers and selling shareholders in various capital markets transactions, incduling global IPOs, global follow-on offerings, convetibles bonds offerings, debt offerings, private investments in public companies (PIPEs), J-REITs offerings. He also has been active in fincance transactions by venture companies.

He joined Nishimura & Asahi in 2000 and has been a partner with the firm since 2009. His work is primarily in the field of finance. He represents lender and borrower side clients in a broad range of public and private financing transactions, with a special emphasis on acquisition finance. In this field he is recognized as a renowned practitioner with a high level of expertise and has advised on a large number of transactions such as LBO/MBO transactions involving both listed and unlisted companies, as well as on mezzanine financing transactions. He also has wide ranging experience in the area of structured finance, where he has been involved in numerous securitization transactions of a wide variety of assets including monetary claims, real estate and distressed assets. Furthermore, with his experience seconded to a merchant banking subsidiary of an investment banking firm, his expertise also extends to the areas of private equity and principal investment.

Shintaro Uno is one of Japan’s leading experts on FIDIC and other construction-industry contracts. He specializes in international engineering and construction of infrastructure projects around the world, with a particular focus on Japan and Asia. He has extensive experience advising on a wide range of projects, including semiconductor plants, data centers, high-speed railways, highways, submarine cables, coal-mining process facilities, Mass Rapid Transit, high-rise buildings, lithium hydroxide plants, various types of power plants, tunnels, ports, dredging, offshore wind, and water treatment and supply facilities, with primary contracts based on the standard FIDIC contract forms (including Redbook, Yellowbook, Silverbook 1999 and 2017 editions), Minkanrengo Building contract, Nikkenren Design Build, and ENAA. 

On the contentious side, Shintaro successfully represents both employers and contractors in proceedings before Dispute Adjudication Boards, international arbitral tribunals, and national courts. He has particular expertise in arbitration under the SIAC, ICC, BANI, and DIAC rules.

Shintaro has been recognized as a Leading Individual in the Construction: International category by Chambers Asia-Pacific for three consecutive years (2023–2025), reflecting his reputation and track record in the region.

Over the past 14 years, Shintaro has been based in Southeast Asia, where he has advised on numerous complex disputes and crisis scenarios. His regional experience is especially extensive in Indonesia, where he has handled more than 70 contentious matters—including litigation, internal investigations, local arbitrations, and criminal cases—demonstrating his capability to navigate sensitive legal issues in cross-border settings.

Focusing on disputes arising out of the termination of contracts, in particular for clients in the automotive, pharmaceutical, electronic devices, apparel, and food & beverage sectors, Yutaro Kawabata is a “divorce lawyer” for companies. Since joining Nishimura & Asahi in 2004, he has been involved in a number of major international arbitration and commercial litigation cases.

Lars’ practice is focused on commercial and investment arbitration. He has particular expertise in contentious proceedings involving post-M&A, commercial, manufacturing, construction, and distribution matters, in areas such as life sciences, automotive, and energy. Lars also deals with cases involving governments, and has advised foreign investors and sovereign states on issues of foreign direct investment and public international law, including related negotiations and investor-state disputes. He has been involved in more than 60 international arbitrations as counsel and as arbitrator under the arbitration rules of institutions such as the ICC, DIS, SAC, NAI, ICDR, KCAB, JCAA, SIAC, and ICSID, as well as under the UNCITRAL Rules.

Chié Nakahara specializes in international litigation and arbitration. The disputes she typically handles relate to M&A, distributorship, licensing, franchising, and the termination of such continuous contracts, construction, product liability, corporate governance, intellectual property, finance and other commercial matters. She has acted in a large number of complex and high profile litigations and arbitrations. She serves as a panel of arbitrators at Korean Commercial Arbitration Board International, Singapore International Arbitration Centre, and also as a registered arbitrator at the Daiichi Tokyo Bar Arbitration Center.

Hiroko Jimbo is advising on various M&A transactions such as acquisitions of private/listed companies, joint ventures, capital/business alliances and technology alliances, and general corporate matters such as support of foreign companies’ entry into Japanese market, with strengths in industries and transactions where technology and intellectual property are important, such as the business integration in the electronics and other manufacturing industries, telecommunication industries, license / franchise business.

She has strong expertise in Japanese Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) regulations and handled numerous FDI filings. Based on the experience of various deals and the experience to work with government, she has unique insight to coordinate complex and difficult transactions that involve FDI elements. She engaged in discussion as a member of council and committees at the Japanese government level on the amendment to Japan’s Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Act in 2020 and the implementation thereof. She has also served as an advisor for Council for Promotion of Foreign Direct Investment in Japan, Cabinet Office and actively supports the foreign investment promotion.

Mayuko is an attorney at Nishimura & Asahi (admitted in Japan and New York). Her practice includes corporate matters including M&A as well as international tax and tax dispute. She has experience engaging in tax treaty negotiations and domestic procedures thereof from her time as a deputy director at the Economic Treaties Division, International Legal Affairs Bureau, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan from 2017 to 2019.

Since joining Nishimura & Asahi, Masashi has handled numerous deals relating to capital markets, including global IPO and PO deals, corporate debt transactions, euro convertible bond offerings, samurai bond offerings, listings of foreign companies on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, and third-party allotments. His abundant, practical experience, and prior secondment to a major financial institution, enable him to provide not only tailored legal advice and efficient support for a wide range of projects, but also specialized legal advice relating to the origination of projects with new features or structures. In addition to capital markets practice, Masashi actively represents clients in insurance transactions, including cross-border matters and those related to the Insurance Business Act; he is a member of our insurance team, and also engages in other financial regulation practice.

Keitaro deals with various cross-border M&A transactions, both inbound and outbound, backed by his experience working in U.S. and Australian law firms. He has an extensive track record of success in handling private equity deals, not only on acquisitions but also on exits. Further, his practice includes M&A generally, such as business integrations, carve-outs, and JV formation. Clients value his outstanding analysis, communication, and presentation skills beyond just language (both Japanese and English), which he leverages for successful discussions and negotiations with clients, advisors, and counterparties.

Based on her experience working on a wide range of domestic and international corporate matters including various matters in Vietnam and other Southeast Asian countries for more than seven years and overseas study and business experience in the UK for three years, she has been engaged in supporting Japanese companies in dealing with sustainability issues, while collaborating in various legal fields and jurisdictions including M&A, labour issues, European law and Asian law. She also has a strong ability to work with various stakeholders based on her experience working as an external collaborator for the International Labor Organization (ILO). She also advises Japanese companies in the area of Business and Human Rights.
She was also the lead in the development of the "Guideline for Responsible Business Conduct for the Textile and Clothing Industry of Japan" for human rights due diligence in the textile and apparel industry, which was formulated by the Japan Textile Federation in July 2022, as an external collaborator for the International Labor Organization (ILO).
In addition to serving as a member of various government study groups on human rights and environmental issues and as a member of the sustainability advisory board of a Japanese listed company, she has accepted numerous requests to be an instructor for in-house training, including executive training, and participated as a presenter in various seminars.
- Managing member of the Business and Human Rights Lawyers Network in Japan
- A member of the Advisory Mediation Committee of the Japan Center for Engagement and Remedies on Business and Human Rights (JaCER)
- Senior Advisor at the General Incorporated Association Chubu SDGs Promotion Center
- Business Human Rights (BHR) Committee/Human Rights Law Committee Member at the International Bar Association