Career Biography

After joining the legal department of Sony Corporation in 1992, I worked at Intellectual Ventures (a patent portfolio licensing company) and Renesas Electronics Corporation (a semiconductor manufacturer) before joining The Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd. in 2019 as head of legal department. At Sony, where I spent the longest period of my career, I gained invaluable experience, including providing legal support during the launch phase of the PlayStation business and setting up the patent licensing function in Europe while stationed in the UK; these truly formed the foundation of my professional career. Currently, at Yokohama Rubber, I serve as associate officer, deputy head of corporate administration division and head of legal department.

When I first joined Yokohama Rubber,the legal department’s functions were limited to contract review, litigation management and legal consultation. Since then, we have expanded the scope to encompass AGM, stock-related operations, risk management, export control and legal compliance, including antitrust. Today, our department is structured into three internal groups to handle these diverse responsibilities.

Under the policy —”To contribute to Yokohama Rubber’s growth and enhancement of corporate value as business professionals with legal expertise”— the legal department approaches its daily operations with a strong focus on five key behavioral principles: a customer-centric mindset, purpose-driven action, speed, a keen sense of schedule and a high, broad perspective.

As part of the grand strategy for our tire business, our company has acquired agricultural tire manufactures ATG in 2016 and Trelleborg Wheel Systems in 2022, and Goodyear’s OTR (off-the-road for mining and construction) tire business in 2024. Following this rapid expansion in scale within a short period, strengthening our legal risk management system, particularly at our overseas locations, has become one of our top priorities.

Specifically, we have introduced a system where the global headquarters reviews key contracts across all global locations in advance to identify material risk clauses. Similarly, for high-stakes litigation, we have implemented a mechanism that ensures headquarters’ involvement during major decision-making stages, such as filing lawsuits or entering settlements. Furthermore, in response to the tightening of international economic sanctions resulting from the Russia-Ukraine war, we rapidly implemented a screening system for sanctioned individuals, entities and embargoed items, placing a strong emphasis on strengthening our export controls.

Like many other companies, we are actively integrating AI into our daily legal operations. The evolution of AI, particularly in contract review, has been remarkable and has led to significant labor savings. On the other hand, we believe it is essential to redefine the role and value of legal departments and legal professionals in the AI era. This includes addressing challenges such as how professionals can gain the necessary experience to detect AI errors or hallucinations, and how we can deliver the unique value add that AI cannot replicate.