Since joining the firm in 2001, Tomoki Debari has been involved principally in the fields of insurance, banking, securities and asset management, as well as M&A projects involving insurance companies and other financial institutions. He has extensive experience representing Japanese and foreign insurance companies in various matters in Japan, including: (a) formation of branches, subsidiaries and insurance joint venture companies in Japan and applications for insurance business licenses; (b) acquisition of shares in insurance companies and/or portfolio transfers; (c) demutualization and other structural changes, including conversion of Japanese branches into subsidiaries licensed to conduct insurance business; (d) strategic alliances and mergers involving insurance companies; (e) outbound investment and/or formation of joint ventures in the U.S., Europe and Asia (including Vietnam, Turkey, Thailand and Singapore) by Japanese insurers; (f) development of new life and non-life product lines; (g) asset management (including real estate, funds and various derivative transactions); (h) reinsurance transactions and ancillary hedging transactions; (i) ongoing advice on all major issues relating to the Insurance Business Act and Insurance Contract Act; (j) litigation and alternative dispute resolution (including disputes relating to reinsurance); and (k) FSA inspections. As an additional area of specialization, Mr. Debari has also developed extensive expertise in environmental law matters. He assisted Japan's Environmental Ministry in its development of the Soil Contamination Countermeasures Act of Japan, adopted in 2002, and since then has advised clients on a wide variety of environmental issues, including: (i) development of environment impairment liability policies and environment remediation expense policies for several insurance companies; (ii) numerous real estate projects in which analysis and management of environmental risks played a key role, including sales, transfers, securitizations and M&A transactions; (iii) global studies by clients in the areas of soil, groundwater, and air contamination (including one such study for a major U.S. airline); (iv) development by clients of emergency reaction and contingency plans against soil and groundwater contamination; and (v) dispute resolution (including both litigation and alternative mechanisms) regarding environmental issues between joint venture partners, as well as with local governments and the public.

Koji Fujita is a partner specializes in tax and tax related matters on cross-border transactions.

Hironori Shibata is a partner at Anderson Mori & Tomotsune and is engaged principally in the fields of general corporate matters, international finance and cross-border M&A transactions, with an emphasis on international capital market, public offering and other transactions involving restructuring of financial business.

Mr. Goto has an exceptional background as a Japanese lawyer with an academic background in both science and engineering, and professional experience working in the intellectual property department of a major electronics company. Mr. Goto’s practice covers a wide range of complex intellectual property and technology/data related matters, including disputes concerning patents, licensing, trade secrets, trademark and technology related antitrust claims, as well as various data privacy/protection issues. He also has broad experience in various regulatory matters as well as product liability issues involving chemical substances, pharmaceutical products and other industrial products. Mr. Goto is recommended for: ・Intellectual Property (Japan) - Chambers Global (2019-2024) ・TMT (Technology, Media, Telecom) - The Legal 500 Asia Pacific (2021-2024) ・Intellectual Property (Japan) - Asialaw Profiles (2021-2024) Since 2017, Mr. Goto has been serving as the vice chair of Standing Committee on Trade Secret of AIPPI. In addition to being admitted to the bar in Japan (2008) and the state of New York (2014), he passed the Japanese Patent Attorney Examination in 2003.

Kazuhiro Yoshii has been engaged in an extensive range of corporate legal practice at Anderson Mori & Tomotsune. He has been involved in the issuance of securities in both the international and domestic capital markets, and mergers and acquisitions. His experience also includes general corporate matters such as real property transactions and international commercial transactions. He also acts as vice chairman of the self-regulation committee of The Investment Trusts Association, Japan.

Mr. Naoyuki Kabata has been involved with an extensive range of financial transactions at Anderson Mori & Tomotsune, including securitization, asset management and investment funds, project finance, PFI (private finance initiative) and LBO (leveraged buy-outs). Mr. Kabata has also assisted both domestic and international clients in general corporate matters, such as corporate acquisition and turnaround, licensing transactions, and intellectual property.

Ko Wakabayashi is a partner with broad experience in international M&A and other cross-border corporate matters. He is fully-bilingual and has represented various overseas companies especially in joint venture, M&A and strategic alliance matters by focusing on efficiently managing and integrating not only legal but also multi-jurisdictional business and corporate cultural needs, especially in deal execution and post-merger integration (PMI) phases.

Reiji Takahashi specializes in financial transaction, in particular, project finance and Private Finance Initiatives (PFI). Mr. Takahashi represented national government, local governments, private companies or banks in many PFI projects including all prison projects initiated by Ministry of Justice, Haneda air terminal project, which is the largest PFI project in Japan, satellite project, etc. Mr. Takahashi also has extensive experience advising on renewable energy projects, IPP project, resource development and water sector business.

Tatsu Katayama is a partner whose areas of expertise are international banking, finance and securities matters on behalf of foreign clients. Mr. Katayama has been individually named as a leading lawyer in Japan in banking and finance and capital markets matters as well as real estate transactions in legal periodicals such as Chambers International and Euromoney. He often works together with overseas legal counsel on these matters and is well accustomed to meeting the needs of overseas clients as well as foreign-subsidiary domestic clients. Mr. Katayama served as the international director of the Japan Federation of Bar Associations. He has expertise in cross border legal practices, anti-money laundering and other international aspects of bar issues.

Koji Kawamura has been engaged in areas of structured finance including securitization of real estate and receivables and project finance. He has also handled M&As, joint ventures and other corporate matters.

Hiroaki Takahashi is a partner at Anderson Mori & Tomotsune and has been engaged in the broad areas of structured finance including securitization of various assets, real estate investment, project finance and PPP/PFI. In addition, he has handled numerous finances, M&As and joint ventures relating to development of resources and energy in and outside Japan.

Mr. Inoue is a partner of Anderson Mori & Tomotsune who has been involved primarily and has extensive experience in the field of leveraged finance, private equity, and structured finance. He has also been involved in turnaround transactions and debt restructuring for insolvent enterprises.

Yusuke Nakano is a partner at Anderson Mori & Tomotsune, with broad experience in the areas of antitrust, business dispute resolution, mergers and acquisitions, and intellectual property. In the antitrust area, he has particularly broad experience in cartel investigation and merger control, including international ones. Further, Mr. Nakano has assisted many Japanese companies and individuals involved in antitrust cases in foreign jurisdictions, in close cooperation with co-counsel in those jurisdictions. He has also represented various companies in administrative, civil and criminal litigation, mass and complex litigation, innovative mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, and licensing arrangements. In addition to his professional experience at Anderson Mori & Tomotsune, Mr. Nakano worked for the New York law firm of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, as a foreign intern (2001 to 2002).

Hideyuki Sakai is an of counsel at Anderson Mori & Tomotsune and one of Japan's leading authorities in insolvency and financial restructuring. Prior to joining Anderson Mori & Tomotsune, he was managing partner of Bingham Sakai Mimura Aizawa, the joint enterprise established between Sakai & Mimura, which he founded in 1995, and a leading US law firm. Mr. Sakai focuses on bankruptcy, workouts, civil rehabilitation and other proceedings involving insolvency procedures. He frequently represents financial institutions and large creditor groups in complex debt restructurings and international insolvency matters. He has also served as court-appointed trustee in high-profile cases and as mediator in out-of-court ADR proceedings. Additionally, he has extensive experience in cross-border M&A, complex commercial litigation and crisis management.

Yoshikazu Iwase joined Anderson Mori & Tomotsune after working with an intellectual property firm in Tokyo for three years. His litigation experience involves a number of patent infringement trials and revocation suits against the trial decisions of the Japanese Patent Office concerning patentability/validity of patents over various technologies. He has also been involved with a wide range of trademark/trade dress and copyright infringement suits, licensing and IP assets transfer transactions, and dispute resolution. Mr. Iwase has provided a wide range of advice regarding U.S. patent infringement issues in Japan. His experience also includes drafting and negotiating licensing, patent and various intellectual property transfer agreements, transactions and due diligence of intellectual property in the course of M&A deals.

Tetsuya Itoh is a partner at Anderson Mori & Tomotsune with more than 10 years of experience involved principally in the fields of financial, commercial and corporate transactions with coverage of regulatory affairs. Mr. Itoh has represented lenders, arrangers, agents, trustees, equity investors, originators and other related parties in a number of asset transactions including REITs, real estate funds and construction finance, and additionally has experience in corporate acquisitions including those made in the course of insolvency proceedings.

Eiichiro Nakatani is a partner at Anderson Mori & Tomotsune, and advises and assists various domestic and cross border contracts and transactions, with an emphasis on international taxation matters. Ranked as the leading global tax lawyer by the Tax Directors Handbook for many years. Ranked in Band 1 of the Leading Individuals, Tax, Japan of "Chambers Asia" for many years.

Minoru Kobayashi’s practice focuses on real estate, capital markets and structured finance transactions, such as real estate non-recourse loans, establishment of real estate funds, including Japanese REITs (real estate investment trusts), issuance and offering of debt and equity securities in international and domestic markets and complex securitizations. His practice has also included a wide range of corporate transactions, including corporate finance transactions, mergers and acquisitions, corporate restructurings, licensing and international trade.

Isao Shindo is a partner at Anderson Mori & Tomotsune, who has been involved principally in the fields of banking, securities transactions, asset management, insurance, trust and structured finance, as well as M&A projects involving financial institutions and insurance companies. Mr. Shindo has long experience representing a large number of Japanese and foreign financial firms with respect to various aspects of their businesses in Japan, including regulatory issues. Mr. Shindo is a pioneer in the area of advising financial institutions regarding global multi-currency loan facilities. Mr. Shindo has also acted as Japan counsel in relation to the merger of major global financial companies.

Hideki Thurgood Kanoh has been practicing in the area of labor and employment and currently devotes his practice exclusively to this area from the viewpoint of employers and companies (instead of employees and workers), such as follows: I. Collective Labor-Matters (Collective Bargaining Sessions with Labor Unions, Concerted Activities (Strike, Picketing, and so on) of Labor Unions) II. Individual Employment Matters (Dismissal and Voluntary Resignation, Disciplinary Actions, Internal Transfer, External Secondment, Confusion between Workers Dispatch and Service-Providing Contract, Job Search, Employment of Aged People and Disabled People, Establishment of Wage Payment Systems and Retirement Benefit Systems, Implementation of Pay-per-Performance Systems, Sexual Harassment, Bullying, Mental Health, Occupational Safety and Health, Preparation of and Amendment to Work Rules of Employment, Preparation of Employment Contracts, Fixed-Term Employment Contracts, Executive Service Agreements, Prevention of Infringement of Corporate Data by Employees, Companies’ Protection and Transfer of Employees’ Data, Companies’ Rights Subsisting in Employees’ Invention or Works of Authorship, Whistle-blowing, Employment of Non-Japanese Workers and their Residing Permit, etc.) III. Labor Insurance, Social Insurance and Pension Plans (Workers Accident Compensation Insurance, Unemployment Insurance, Health Insurance, Welfare Pension Insurance, Defined Contribution Pension Plan, Defined Benefit Pension Plan, Welfare Pension Fund, Tax-Qualified Retirement Pension, etc.) IV. Labor and Employment Related Dispute Resolution and Litigation (Labor-Related and Employment-Related Litigation, Mediation on Individual Employment Dispute, Employment Tribunal Dispute Resolution, Remedy for Unfair Labor Practices, etc.) Thurgood acts on behalf of both Japanese and non-Japanese multinational companies, advising them on all aspects of labor and employment. Although he advises companies on ways to avert formal labor and employment disputes, he is also an experienced labor and employment litigator, having successfully defended many cases. He has written and lectured extensively on labor and employment matters in addition to matters unrelated to labor and employment law.

Zentaro Nihei, a partner in Anderson Mori’s financial restructuring and insolvency group, specializes in complex restructuring and insolvency/bankruptcy and special situation investing. He regularly represents hedge funds, private equity funds and other distressed investors in matters, including those of a cross-border nature, relating to both in- and out-of-court restructurings, distressed mergers & acquisitions and other distressed financing. He is also experienced in representing secured creditors’ committees, trustees and other parties advising on asset recovery and the taking and enforcement of securities.

Yasufumi Shiroyama is a partner who heads all aspects of the firm's intellectual property group practice, including: ・Drafting and arguing complaints, motions, answers and other pleadings for patent, trademark, copyright and know-how infringement litigation in district and appellate courts in Japan, on behalf of both Japanese and foreign companies; ・Drafting and arguing complaints, motions, answers and other pleadings for litigation arising in relation to technology transfer agreements, compensation for employee's invention, and allegedly defective products, etc. in district and appellate courts in Japan, on behalf of both Japanese and foreign companies; ・Drafting and negotiating various technology transfer agreements on behalf of both Japanese and foreign companies; ・Managing written discovery in cooperation with U.S. counsel for a Japanese client in patent license related litigation in U.S. federal court; ・Managing appellate litigation matters seeking nullification of decisions of the Japanese Patent Office; ・Drafting and arguing complaints, motions, answers and other pleadings in invalidation trial and opposition procedures before the Japanese Patent Office; and ・Advising on regulatory matters for pharmaceutical products, medical devices, chemical products, and personal data etc.

Kenichi Masuda has represented many local and foreign clients in a broad spectrum of businesses and industries. He has extensive experience in advising foreign clients and is familiar with cross-border issues. In particular, he regularly advises clients on mergers and acquisitions of listed and unlisted businesses (including, but not limited to, share acquisitions and divestments and business acquisitions and divestments for foreign clients where the target is a Japanese company or business), joint ventures and other cross-border investments, and corporate restructurings. His scope of experience also includes assisting and representing venture companies in various aspects including start-up, equity finance and initial public offerings, as well as establishing venture capital or other private equity funds, advising venture or other private equity funds on investments in Japanese businesses including high-tech businesses as well as distressed companies. He regularly provides legal services on employment and labor union relations (including representation of client companies at the court and other dispute resolution forum), real property transactions, intellectual property issues, general corporate matters (including corporate governance and compliance issues for listed companies) and commercial matters. Mr. Masuda served as a Committee Member for two committees organized by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry for the purpose of stimulating venture business and investments into the venture business in Japan: the Committee for Improving the Business Environment for Private Equity Finance in Japan in 2000, which developed proposals for revisions to the Japanese corporate law, and the Committee for Examining Desirable Disclosure Systems of the Venture Business in Japan in 2001, which developed proposals for revisions to the Japanese Securities Exchange Law. Mr. Masuda also taught M&A as an adjunct lecturer at the Graduate School for Law and Politics of The University of Tokyo (2011-2013, 2014-2016).

Hideto Ishida is an of counsel at Anderson Mori & Tomotsune, and counsels a variety of domestic and foreign multinational companies in Japanese anti-trust and competition matters, including those relating to cartels, mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, distribution agreements, license agreements and other cooperation agreements. He also represents many companies involved in investigations before the Japan Fair Trade Commission and other foreign competition authorities for price cartels, bid rigging and similar serious alleged violations such as vitamin, graphite electrode, GIS, marine hose, air fare, LCD, Auto parts, Maritime, Libor/Tibor FX international and certain Bond international cartels. He served for seven years as the first attorney appointed as a special investigator with the Japanese Fair Trade Commission and thus has a keen sense of the actual and practical application of antitrust and distribution regulations to companies doing business in Japan.

Kazutoshi Kakuyama is an of counsel at Anderson Mori & Tomotsune, and has a general practice on behalf of domestic and overseas clients, specializing in labor and employment law and general corporate matters.

Takashi Akahane is a partner, whose practice includes Project Finance, Private Finance Initiatives and various financial transactions. Mr. Akahane also advises various Japanese ministries, municipalities, and multinationals regarding PPP (public private partnership) and social and economic infrastructure projects.

Ryu Umezu specializes in finance, securities and capital market transactions, investments (including corporate, business and real property acquisitions), investment funds and regulatory matters for financial institutions and investment funds. As a capital markets specialist, he has prominent record in advising IPOs, listings, equity offerings and debt offerings in Japan as well as at the markets out of Japan including the US, UK, Europe, Hong Kong, Singapore and Israel. He advises a number of major global and Japanese financial institutions.

Hiroki Kodate is a partner at Anderson Mori & Tomotsune and engaged principally in the fields of M&A and general corporate matters, and regularly advises both Japanese and non-Japanese clients in this regard. In addition to his professional experience at Anderson Mori & Tomotsune, Mr. Kodate worked for the Civil Affairs Bureau of the Ministry of Justice, where he was in charge of the legislative project to modernize Japanese corporate laws (2002-2005). He also worked for Slaughter and May in London as a foreign secondee (2000-2001).

Capital markets transactions including private/public securities offerings, M&A transactions, general corporate matters and intellectual property