Kazuhilo Kikawa
Kazuhilo Kikawa

Partner

Tokyo
LEGAL AWARDS
The Best Lawyers in Japan™・Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch in Japan™ (2025 Edition)
The Legal 500 Asia Pacific 2024
The Best Lawyers in Japan™ 2024
The Legal 500 Asia Pacific 2023
Best Lawyers 2023
Key Practice Areas
Government Investigations and Crisis Management
Dealing with compliance issues and criminal investigations
Dispute Resolution
Health Care, Pharmaceutical and Life Science
Immigration-related Services
TEL:81-3-6775-1253
/FAX:81-3-6775-2253
Utilizing his twelve years of experience in the Ministry of Justice and the Prosecutors' Office, Mr. Kikawa represents domestic and foreign clients in administrative and criminal investigations by enforcement agencies, and in complex commercial, administrative, and consumer disputes. He also has extensive experience in advising on internal investigations of corporate scandals and compliance with various regulations. Although his range of legal practice is broad, he has been particularly busy in the fields set out below. Advertising, Labeling, and Marketing Regulations (Consumer Protection Laws) Mr. Kikawa provides wide-ranging advice about the Premiums and Representations Act, Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Act, Medical Care Act, Health Promotion Act, Unfair Competition Prevention Act, Specified Commercial Transactions Act, Consumer Contract Act, and related laws regulating the advertising, labeling, and marketing activities of entities. He also has extensive experience responding to administrative investigations regarding misrepresentation and extravagant advertising (puffing) brought by the Consumer Affairs Agency, Fair Trade Commission, regional governments, public health centers, and similar agencies. From 2017, Mr. Kikawa has been a member of the Medical Advertising Rules Study Group of the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare. E-commerce (Internet Business) Mr. Kikawa handles myriad legal issues arising from internet sales, web-media, portal sites, reservation sites, and other e-commerce. He has broad experience with the legal issues relating to e-commerce, including legal services such as reviews of advertising expression on product landing pages and web-media articles, drafting of use rules, privacy policies, and related agreements, and responses to online defamation. Consumer Group Disputes Mr. Kikawa advises numerous companies on injunction actions and Japan class actions by qualified consumer groups regarding misrepresentation and unfair agreement provisions. Medical and Health Care Regulations Based on his experience with medical disputes at the Tokyo Prosecutors Office, as the prosecutor in charge of cases involving medical patient death and violations of regulations under the Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Act and Medical Care Act, he represents medical institutions in medical malpractice disputes, advises on import and sale restrictions on medical products and devices, and restrictions on promotional activities of pharmaceutical companies, and handles other legal issues relating to medical and health care. Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act When Mr. Kikawa was an officer in the Immigration Bureau of the Ministry of Justice, he was in charge of drafting the bill and dealing with the Diet for the 2009 revisions to the Immigration Control Act, and based on that experience, gives advice regarding legal issues connected with visas for foreign employees and visas for foreign performers and presenters invited to events in Japan.
CAREER
Mar 1998
Kyoto University (LL.B.)
Apr 1998 - Mar 2000
The Legal Training and Research Institute of the Supreme Court of Japan
Apr 2000
Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office
Jun 2000
Takamatsu District Public Prosecutors Office (Investigation Department/Special Investigation Department)
Apr 2001
Naha District Public Prosecutors Office (In charge of international crime/mafia crime)
Apr 2003
Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office
Apr 2003
The Ministry of Justice, Criminal Affairs Bureau (Inmate Death Record Investigation Team)
Apr 2004
Yokohama District Public Prosecutors Office (Special Investigation Department/Trials Department)
Apr 2005
Okayama District Public Prosecutors Office (Instructor of legal trainees/In charge of international crime)
Apr 2007
The Ministry of Justice, Immigration Bureau, Adjudication Division (In charge of administrative litigation/refugee recognition)
Apr 2008
The Ministry of Justice, Immigration Bureau, Office of Counselor (In charge of 2009 immigration reform)
Apr 2010
Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office (Chief Prosecutor of Medical Affairs at Investigation Division)
Apr 2012
Registered as a private practitioner
Jul 2014
Graduate study, University of California, Berkeley, School of Law (LL.M.)
Sep 2017
Member of “Study Group on Appropriate Medical Information,” Health Policy Bureau of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare
May 2018
Member of “Study Group on advertisements of massage and shiatsu practitioners, acupuncturists, moxibustion practitioners and judo therapists,” Health Policy Bureau of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare
Sep 2023
Member of “Subcommittee on Medical Function Information Provision System, Medical Advertisement, and Other Related Affairs,” Health Policy Bureau of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare
QUALIFICATIONS
Japan (2000)
PROFESSIONAL AND
ACADEMIC ASSOCIATION
Dai-ichi Tokyo Bar Association
LANGUAGES
Japanese (first language)
English
Kazuhilo Kikawa
Kazuhilo Kikawa
TEL:81-3-6775-1253
/FAX:81-3-6775-2253
Government Investigations and Crisis Management
Dealing with compliance issues and criminal investigations
Dispute Resolution
Health Care, Pharmaceutical and Life Science
Immigration-related Services