FT Innovative Lawyers Asia-Pacific Awards 2025

The awards ceremony for the FT Innovative Lawyers Asia-Pacific Awards 2025 hosted by Financial Times (FT) was held in Hong Kong on May 15, 2025, and our partner Maki Kadonaga was named as the winner for the following category.

Legal Intrapreneur

Maki Kadonaga

Our partner Takashi Nakazaki was recognized and highly commended as one of the shortlisted practitioners in the following category.

Innovative Practitioner

Takashi Nakazaki

Our firm was shortlisted for the following category as well.

Innovation in Knowledge and Data

Most Innovative Law Firm in APAC (Headquartered in APAC)

Details

https://www.ft.com/content/a889f748-3c5e-4917-8e38-899aec146985

https://www.ft.com/content/7dfba7d5-9c35-4173-afb2-a888b1f58199

https://www.ft.com/content/ab902a10-b2c0-4313-8c3f-fd88479ac21e

https://www.ft.com/content/9e162faf-b665-4d04-8dc2-3059a3403651

https://www.ft.com/content/f4e81b4c-d0b6-40ef-89c5-3f69a6a26574

Award Recipients

Maki Kadonaga
MakiKadonaga
Tokyo
Partner
Kadonaga Maki
Tokyo
Partner
Maki Kadonaga primarily engages in internal knowledge management. She was seconded to a foreign chemical company on a part-time basis in 2013 and a Japanese trading company on a full-time basis in 2015.
Maki Kadonaga primarily engages in internal knowledge management. She was seconded to a foreign chemical company on a part-time basis in 2013 and a Japanese trading company on a full-time basis in 2015.
Takashi Nakazaki
TakashiNakazaki
Tokyo
Partner
Nakazaki Takashi
Tokyo
Partner
My practice focuses on assisting domestic and international clients with personal data and privacy, AI, metaverse and other advanced areas, internet and IT-related matters, copyright, trademarks and other intellectual property rights, and cross-border transactions. For domestic clients, I have also assisted many clients with overseas compliance in the EU and elsewhere. I also deal with a number of more specialised areas, such as cyber security, where ransomware has recently become an issue, economic security, where security clearances are a hot topic, and technical areas such as Radio Act and satellite-related matters. Outside of work, I was a member of a working group that drafted the recently published AI Guidelines for Business, and I serve on a number of expert committees for the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, the Cabinet Office and other government departments. Also I have been commissioned to carry out various surveys for the Personal Information Protection Commission. In Internet-related matters, I have been involved in various service launches and overseas expansion support for SNS, cloud, metaverse and online games, domain disputes and security, as well as compliance with the Personal Information Protection Act, the Funds Settlement Act, the Provider Liability Limitation Act, the Telecommunications Business Act and various other business laws and regulations, and in IT and systems, I have been involved in system development, security and open source software development. The firm assists clients in Japan and abroad with a focus on system development, security and software disputes, including open source.
My practice focuses on assisting domestic and international clients with personal data and privacy, AI, metaverse and other advanced areas, internet and IT-related matters, copyright, trademarks and other intellectual property rights, and cross-border transactions. For domestic clients, I have also assisted many clients with overseas compliance in the EU and elsewhere. I also deal with a number of more specialised areas, such as cyber security, where ransomware has recently become an issue, economic security, where security clearances are a hot topic, and technical areas such as Radio Act and satellite-related matters. Outside of work, I was a member of a working group that drafted the recently published AI Guidelines for Business, and I serve on a number of expert committees for the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, the Cabinet Office and other government departments. Also I have been commissioned to carry out various surveys for the Personal Information Protection Commission. In Internet-related matters, I have been involved in various service launches and overseas expansion support for SNS, cloud, metaverse and online games, domain disputes and security, as well as compliance with the Personal Information Protection Act, the Funds Settlement Act, the Provider Liability Limitation Act, the Telecommunications Business Act and various other business laws and regulations, and in IT and systems, I have been involved in system development, security and open source software development. The firm assists clients in Japan and abroad with a focus on system development, security and software disputes, including open source.

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