The success of the Japan-EU Economic Partnership Agreement and the UK-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement has led to the creation of a massive economic zone that greatly bolstered two-way trade between Japan, Europe and the UK. In accordance with this, the number of companies based in the UK and Europe seeking advice on Japanese laws and regulations has significantly increased in recent times. As part of our firm’s strategy to continually enhance our legal services, we opened our London office in September 2022. This has enabled us to better support our clients situated in European time zones with their investments in Japan through a wide range of transactions, such as M&As, joint ventures and real estate transactions. We also advise multinational companies based in the UK and Europe on their Japan-related international disputes and intra-group restructuring, and many other legal issues, including compliance-related matters, labor matters, data protection matters, antitrust law matters and intellectual property matters. Our firm has also built an extensive network with leading law firms across Europe over five decades, and we continue to work in close collaboration with them to provide our Japan-based clients with high quality legal advice and support for their investments and business operations in Europe.