The Legal 500

Within Independent local firms, Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu is a first tier firm,

Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu has a well-deserved reputation for its antitrust and competition law expertise. Eriko Watanabe is a former deputy director of the JFTC, Hisaya Kimura is a litigation specialist, and Kaoru Hattori is a respected antitrust practitioner.

Within Independent local firms, Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu is a first tier firm,

At Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu, Fumihide Sugimoto’s team includes PFI expert Takao Higuchi, finance specialist Shinichi Matsui, acquisition finance partner Jiro Mikami, Islamic finance expert Takashi Tsukioka, and banking and trade finance specialist Minoru Ota. Satoshi Inoue is also recommended. The firm fields several real estate finance specialists, including Mami Ikebukuro. It is advising Mizuho Financial Group as it turns Mizuho Trust & Banking Co and Mizuho Investors Securities Co into wholly owned subsidiaries of Mizuho Financial Group by way of three share exchange transactions.

Within Independent local firms, Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu is a first tier firm,

Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu represented Renault in its issuance of ¥15.4bn samurai bonds and advised SMBC Nikko Securities on the issuance of ANZ Bank samurai bonds. The team also advised HKT Management on HKT Management and HKT’s public offering without listing. Toshio Kobayashi leads the practice, which includes recommended experts Miyuki Ishiguro, Fumihide Sugimoto, Hidetaka Mihara, Tsutomu Hashimoto, Hiroyuki Ishizuka and Masatsura Kadota.

Within Independent local firms, Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu is a first tier firm,

Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu has a first-class projects and energy practice. The firm advised NEXI on the provision of overseas investment insurance for Marubeni’s investment into PT Jawa Power, which is engaged in Indonesia’s thermal power generation business. Finance specialist Minoru Ota has an impressive environmental practice and advises on Kyoto Protocol compliance and carbon trading. He also has niche expertise in new energy deployment technologies. Takao Higuchi, Jiro Mikami and Kei Okubo are also recommended.

Within Independent local firms, Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu is a first tier firm,

Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu’s Koichi Takeuchi, Kenichi Fujinawa, Tohru Nakajima and Hiroki Inoue have market-leading reputations for corporate and M&A work. Yuko Tamai, Tomohiko Iwasaki and Soichiro Uno are also recommended. The firm is advising on the merger between Nippon Steel and Sumitomo Metal Industries, as well as the proposed union between Tokyo Stock Exchange Group and Osaka Securities Exchange. The firm also advised Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group and SMBC on the acquisition of RBS’ aircraft leasing business, and assisted Nomura Holdings with its acquisition of 100% of Nomura Land & Building Co through share purchase and stock-for-stock exchange.

Within Independent local firms, Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu is a first tier firm,

International arbitration is a notable feature of Jun Naitoh’s disputes practice at Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu. Recent experience includes advising a client in an international arbitration regarding the dissolution of a strategic alliance; representing a chemicals manufacturer in patent litigation; and assisting an infrastructure company in shareholder derivative litigation. It also acted for an apparel company in employment litigation. Hisaya Kimura, Ryoichi Mimura, Seiichiro Umeno and, Masahiro Matsuoka are recommended. Naoki Iguchi joined from Anderson Mori & Tomotsune in 2012.

Within Independent local firms, Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu is a second tier firm,

Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu represents domestic and foreign companies in patent and copyright litigation and patent invalidity proceedings before the Japan Patent Office. It also assists clients in IP transactions, including the negotiation of licence agreements and technology transfers, and IP due diligence in M&A. The firm is advising several semiconductor manufacturers in patent infringement litigation and assisting an education sector business in a domain name dispute. Ryoichi Mimura, Kazuo Ohtake, Yoshimi Ohara and Takahiro Yamauchi are highly experienced.

Within Independent local firms, Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu is a second tier firm,

Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu represents clients in disputes over dismissals and compensation, and advises on regulatory compliance and on changes to employee evaluation and promotion systems. Niche strengths include advising how best to treat employees suffering from mental health problems, and representing clients in collective bargaining negotiations with labour unions. This large team includes the recommended figures of Hisaya Kimura, Jun Kanda, Norimitsu Arai, Hironobu Tsukamoto, Koki Yanagisawa and Yoshikazu Sugino. Masahiro Matsuoka is also recommended for his work involving unions.

Within Independent local firms, Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu is a first tier firm,

At Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu, Hisashi Hara’s group includes Naohiro Nishimura, Shunpei Tanaka, Mami Ikebukuro, Junji Yamanaka, Hiroto Inoue and Kenji Utsumi. The firm advised Nippon Hotel Fund Investment Corporation and Real Estate Capital Asia Partners on its merger with Japan Hotel and Resort; LaSalle Investment Management on the sale of logistics facilities to CIC and GLP; and Activia Properties as issuer of a J-REIT IPO sponsored by Tokyu Land Corporation. Other clients include United Urban Investment Corporation, Japan Real Estate Investment Corporation, and Sapporo Real Estate Company.

Within Independent local firms, Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu is a first tier firm,

Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu represented Goldman Sachs Japan on Ibaraki Prefecture’s ¥10bn Eco Frontier Revenue Trust revenue bonds issuance, and also advised on an innovative structured financing transaction involving hospitals. Real estate finance specialists Naohiro Nishimura and Mami Ikebukuro are recommended, as is Satoshi Inoue, who is known for structuring new finance products using trusts. Ichiro Oya and Motohiro Yanagawa are also highly experienced.

Within Independent local firms, Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu is a first tier firm,

Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu advised Takeda Pharmaceutical in its appeal against a transfer-pricing assessment, resulting in the cancellation of its original tax assessment and a $700m refund. It also gave tax-planning advice on the dissolution of a joint venture between a French company and a Japanese company, and advised on a wealth-planning transaction for a Forbes-listed wealthy individual. Yuko Miyazaki heads the team, which includes the very experienced Yushi Hegawa, Takashi Saida and Atsushi Fujieda.