Team size: 60

What are the most significant cases, projects and/or transactions that you and your legal team have recently been involved in?

JERA’s legal team, together with bp, have worked hard in making it possible to create a top-tier global offshore wind joint venture, aiming to become one of the largest global offshore wind developers, owners and operators.

How do you approach managing legal aspects during periods of instability or crisis to ensure the organisation’s resilience?

JERA has been engaged in the energy industry. Amid global political instability and intensifying competition for energy resources, as a major Japanese power generation company, we aim to diversify risks without over-relying on specific countries or regions.

Legal advice is essential to business operations, so our legal team is committed to providing flexible and timely advice aligned with the company’s objectives. In these uncertain times, we avoid being overly constrained by precedents, instead approaching issues with a fresh perspective and proposing flexible solutions.

Have you had any experiences during your career as a lawyer that stand out as particularly unique or interesting?

I consider my career journey itself unique and interesting. JERA is Japan’s largest power generation company with approximately 7,000 employees, but its history spans only ten years. The legal team also started with just a few members. As a joint venture between two major Japanese power companies, there are some challenging aspects to coordination, but the legal team has grown alongside the expansion of the business and has reached its current state.

Over the past ten years, we have also started many new initiatives, so while our knowledge and experience are not yet fully established, everyone is working hard to fulfil their roles. I believe this is what makes the legal department of a large company that is still in its formative stages unique.

What is a cause, business or otherwise, that you are passionate about? Why is this?

I am passionate about respecting the strengths of each member and creating a system where members with different backgrounds can demonstrate their abilities.

It is easy to talk about meritocracy. However, it is a fact that there are people who cannot demonstrate their abilities because they lack the necessary resources due to reasons such as age, gender, native language, different backgrounds, or being new to the organisation.

I am committed to removing such invisible barriers. As the saying goes: “More work with less people”. Instead of lamenting this, I focus on how to help the current members fully utilise their abilities. From my experience working abroad in a foreign environment, I am attuned to such insights. Before complaining that members are not performing to their full potential, I make it my motto to identify the barriers and remove them once they are recognised.