First, can you give us some background to your career?

I’ve had the opportunity to reflect on my career, and one consistent theme has always stood out: my strong interest in conflict resolution. This passion began during law school, where I focused my studies on the subject, and it ultimately shaped the direction of my professional journey.

My first role was at a financial institution, where I built a solid foundation in legal practice. I was involved in designing financial products such as small loans, credit cards, guarantees, and mergers. A pivotal moment came with the collapse of Lehman Brothers, which led me to shift into litigation management—an experience that significantly deepened my understanding of legal risk and crisis response early in my career.

I later transitioned to Tapestry—then known as Coach Japan—which was a single-brand company at the time. In 2009, I took on the challenge of establishing the first local Legal department outside of the New York headquarters. I built it from the ground up to provide comprehensive legal services, including intellectual property management and brand protection, with a focus on fashion law. Over time, my responsibilities expanded beyond Japan to include South Korea and Southeast Asia, and from one brand to three—eventually evolving into two distinct brands after a spin-off.

This phase of my career was particularly exciting. While fashion may not be a necessity, it brings joy, self-expression, and enhances quality of life—an idea that deeply resonated with me.

In addition to my legal role, I also served as an acting leader for culture initiatives at Tapestry Japan. I helped drive efforts to align our workplace culture with our business goals, fostering an

environment where people can thrive as their authentic selves. Contributing to this aspect of the organisation has been incredibly meaningful and rewarding.

So, your career has been quite varied. You’ve moved through different countries and different areas of business. What is the common denominator in the roles you have chosen?

What inspires me is having a growth mindset—the opportunity to learn and develop continuously. The legal profession doesn’t have an endpoint; it’s a continuous journey of learning, improving myself, and contributing to society and the organisations I work with. That’s what has guided my career choices. I’m always looking for ways to grow and to be helpful, both professionally and personally.

Your ability to adapt across industries is impressive. How do you approach navigating such different roles?

For me, it’s about staying open to new challenges and opportunities. Whether it’s navigating financial products during a global crisis or protecting intellectual property in fashion law, I focus on the value I can bring to the role and the people I work with. It’s about understanding the needs of the organisation and finding ways to align my skills to meet those needs. Flexibility and a commitment to learning have been key for me.

Let’s talk about some of the new initiatives you’ve been putting in place at Tapestry. I understand you’ve put a lot of focus on workplace culture.

Yes, thank you for that. Before getting into the specifics, allow me to share our company purpose and values . Tapestry is a growth engine our individually unique brands, and our purpose statement is “Stretch What’s Possible.” It’s why we exist, the role we fulfill in the world. By bringing together different people and ideas under one roof and giving them a place to grow, we stretch what’s possible for our brands, our consumers, our industry, and society. It’s something we embrace globally, and it’s also about adapting it to the specific context of each country. In Japan, for example, we’ve set three main goals last year. First, we aimed to educate our team and the broader community about why diverse perspectives matter. Second, we encouraged our leaders to actively engage and drive our culture work. And the third key goal, we focused on addressing differences among demographics which we identified through our employee survey. For example, questions related to ability to speak your mind, being your authentic self, and or sense of belonging showed different responses. We also saw a sign that certain topics scored relatively lower among our female population. While we don’t have all the answers yet, we gained important insights through this process and have identified areas for improvement. These findings have been a key focus for us as we work to close those gaps and foster a more inclusive workplace culture in which our people can thrive.

What have been some of the key learnings or actions you’ve taken from this work?

One of the biggest takeaways has been the importance of listening and understanding the lived experiences of employees. By identifying root causes and asking the right questions, we can create meaningful change. It’s an ongoing process, but it’s one we’re deeply committed to at Tapestry.

Let’s go back to the results of the survey. You’re trying to find out what your people are really feeling inside, and your results showed that, in certain topics, female employees score lower than their male colleagues?

MK: Mindful of the foundation that our business is more than 80% driven by female employees and to better understand the context, after the company wide survey, we followed up with roundtables, focus interviews, and additional questionnaires. It was important for us not to frame it as who is worse or better. Instead, we needed to think about the context of Japanese society—the societal pressures that both women and men face, and the behaviours that are expected of them. Even if there’s a difference in scores, we don’t view it as a negative or positive—just data that reveals a gap we need to investigate. The survey data also allows us to compare Japan with other markets. Overall, our average scores are better than industry competitors, so we’re happy about that. But when we look deeper, we uncover specific opportunities or themes that need more attention.

Do you get a good level of participation in these surveys?

Yes, the response rate is around 80%, which is encouraging. We consistently remind employees to participate because their feedback is valuable and that their voices matter to drive our business forward.

From the results, what were the main things you wanted to try and improve straight away?

There were several activities we focused on last year. From an educational standpoint, we invited external speakers, including professors, to talk about what inclusion means in Japanese society, where we currently stand, and what improvements we can make. We also started to deepen our understanding of underrepresented communities and joined the Tokyo Pride Parade inviting employees and their families and friends to celebrate the moment together. That was a great learning opportunity for everyone involved. In addition, we set up smaller, informal chat groups—something like tea parties—where employees could speak freely about their thoughts and concerns. The goal was to create a sense of community and belonging within the company, and I believe that helped form stronger connections, which then make it their own value.

It’s often said that a positive culture is driven from the top. How do you personally display the correct way to be respectful?

My personal philosophy is to treat others the way you would like to be treated. That’s the foundation for everything. If you want to be respected, you have to show respect to others. It’s nothing extraordinary—it comes very naturally.

One thing I always pay attention to is integrity. In business, there can be pressure to push boundaries to achieve certain revenues, sales, or performance targets. But we must always uphold the highest level of integrity; otherwise, it’s easy to lose sight of what matters. As a legal professional, I see it as my responsibility to ensure we stay on track.

And what does this mean in terms of the law firms you work with? Will the culture of that law firm determine whether you work with them or not?

Absolutely. But it’s less about the overall culture of the law firm and more about the individuals I work with. Each lawyer is different, and the relationship with that person is what matters most. I have trusted lawyers across several firms who I rely on for specific topics. What’s important is that these individuals understand our company culture. They need to know how quickly we want things done, the level of formality we expect, and the importance of being respectful and accurate. For example, some companies might need very formal memos, but for us, accuracy and speed are more critical. I always communicate these expectations clearly. I know some companies even impose policies on how their external law firms operate. At Tapestry, we have a code of conduct and a supplier code of conduct, which cover fundamental rights like human rights, labour practices, and respect for others. We screen all third parties to ensure they comply with these principles, and without this screening, we would not proceed with any transaction.

We’ll finish on a more general question. How do you think the role of an in-house lawyer has changed over the course of your career?

At the beginning of my career, everything was done on paper. Of course, we used PCs, but most of the editing and review processes were still paper-based. Today, the legal workflow has been significantly digitised. Drafting, reviewing, and even entire processes are now digital, which changes how we operate. That said, what we can offer as legal counsel is something digital tools cannot replace: the human touch. Our role is to find the right balance between risks, compliance, and business goals. My mission for my team is to evolve into strategic advisors who drive business decisions. We’re no longer just lawyers giving legal advice or correct answers. Today, we need to act as business strategy partners, helping to navigate complexity and align with organisational goals.

How does that compare to when you started your career?

Twenty years ago, the focus was on delivering correct answers, research results, or commentaries grounded in databases and legal expertise. That was the primary expectation. Now, it’s very different. It’s about understanding the broader business context and asking, “What should we do now?” within the framework of business strategy and initiatives. The role has shifted from being a purely legal resource to someone who advises on how to achieve objectives and provide strategy business advise while staying compliant and managing risks effectively.