Event Report

The second annual GC Summit Japan marked a milestone for post-covid in-person events in Asia.

With over 150 attendees, eleven sponsors and 41 expert speakers comprising the very top legal talent in the largest city in the world, this was the most comprehensive one-day summit The Legal 500 has ever produced; a truly fitting way for our GC Summit series to return to Asia after the shock of Covid-19.

After registration and a hearty breakfast at the Peninsula Hotel’s Grand Ballroom, the schedule kicked off with keynote speeches from master of ceremonies and Legal 500 GC Powerlist head of research Joe Boswell, followed by Natsue Ishida, managing director of legal and IP at Sega Sammy Holdings. Ishida spoke on behalf of the other in-house lawyers in attendance about why conferences and networking events such as The GC Summit Japan are essential for them to share best practice and have their own ideas challenged or affirmed.

Our first of seven panel discussions then followed, helmed by EY Law Japan director Eri Maeda and senior counsel Yasushi Murofushi. Joining them on stage were executive officer of legal and internal control of Sojitz Corporation Tatsuya Morita, group general counsel of Panasonic Holdings Corporation Ayako Shotoku and general counsel of the government pension investment fund Naosuke Fujita. The panellists focused on how legal departments can manage the inevitable changes that will be thrust upon them in coming years. How to communicate value to the business, how to manage the Covid hangover and how to get the most out of external counsel were key themes in their extensive presentation.

Following this we were treated to three 20-minute seminars in a row by subject matter experts, as part of our new ignite sessions–Legal 500 Lightning Talks. First up were Jun Makuta and Shin Jae Kim of TozziniFreire Advogados with their presentation ‘challenges and trends for subsidiaries in emerging markets’, which made the case for Brazil as an investment opportunity. Second to the stage was Iwata Godo partner Akira Matsuda, who shared his data protection and cyber security expertise with the audience, helping them to find the true path to compliance. The last of the three lightning talks was hosted by King and Spalding; partner Mark Davies took control of the first half of their talk before handing over to senior associate Daisuke Shimodaira. Their talk, which covered acquisitions in the energy sector, a key tenet of King and Spalding’s expertise in Tokyo, was well-received by the audience and featured an extremely in-depth slideshow to go along with it.

After a coffee break, we were back with Nishimura & Asahi’s panel on cross-border M&A. Partner Yoshinobu Fujimoto moderated this session, alongside fellow partners Yoshiyuki Kizu and Hikaru Oguchi. Joining them to provide expert financial commentary was the extremely highly regarded Yuzo Otsuka, managing director and head of Japan M&A advisory, banking section at Barclays. In an accessible and entertaining but meticulously researched and executed presentation, the team onstage covered the full course of a modern M&A project, including the relevant financial background information and analysis that informs activity in the sector post-pandemic.

City-Yuwa Partners took charge of our third panel of the day, which showcased their widely respected expertise in the labour law sector. Titled ‘the evolving workplace: practical guidance on effectively resolving labour disputes in Japan’, the talk was expertly moderated by City-Yuwa partner Akira Nagasaki and saw a range of topics discussed; given the changing nature of the Japanese employment landscape after legislative reforms and–of course–Covid-related developments, this was a timely opportunity for those in the audience to consider how their companies can best navigate the coming months and years. Joining the moderator on stage were regarded partners Noriko Higashizawa and Kosuke Hasegawa and, from the in-house legal world, head of employment law for Japan at Accenture Takashi Ohno and country counsel for Japan at Accenture Hiromi Shiraishi. The panel stood out for its analysis of unusual and unique scenarios that often come up in the employment law sector.

After a buffet lunch, we returned for Ikeda & Someya’s panel on Japanese competition law. Representative partner Tsuyoshi Ikeda provided the benefit of his vast experience to the panel while Aya Yasui moderated the session from the podium. A highly qualified and diverse in-house legal contingent joined them on stage: Shingo Kasahara, director of policy planning for the Japan Fair Trade Commission; Naokuni Kuwagata, corporate officer and country legal head for Novartis Pharma; and Sayaka Habe, project manager of the legal department at Toyota Tsusho Systems corporation. A robust audience Q&A followed the prepared panel discussion, highlighting the interest that competition law commands in the Japanese business world.

Respected bilingual English and Japanese Allen & Overy partner Nick Wall officiated their panel discussion, which was next on the agenda. Covering the technical but extremely relevant topic of sell-side transactions, including foreign trade practices, this discussion was a practical and informative one, due in no small part to the excellent commentary provided by Hiroyuki Urase, general manager of legal and compliance at Sony Financial Holdings and Allen & Overy partners Taro Nakashima and Tokutaka Ito.

After another short coffee break, So & Sato Law Offices restarted the agenda with an extremely interesting look at the tech sector, an area the firm are well-placed to lead a conversation on. Web3, AI, the Metaverse, Robotics and other developments were the order of the day, in a discussion hosted by firm founder So Saito and partner Yuki Sato. Also dispensing their wisdom to the audience was a rigorously assembled and diverse panel of external speakers: Takeshi Onishi of the World Innovation Lab, vice-chairperson and chief financial officer of istyle, Kei Sugawara and, from the venture capital world, Hiroyuki Jinno of HIRAC FUND.

Next, Yoshie Midorikawa of Miura & Partners took to the podium for a fireside chat focusing on the mechanisms for litigation funding in Japan. An engaging and compelling speaker with a fantastic command of English, Midorikawa managed to pack a huge amount of insight, expertise and guidance into her 20-minute slot.

Our seventh and final panel session was hosted by Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu, with moderation provided by their respected foreign law partner Axel Kuhlmann, supported by partner Kosuke Hamaguchi, associate Takahiro Oishi and INPEX’s senior legal counsel Yuko Shimomura. The session, relating to notoriously complex cross-border carve-out transactions, was a highly interactive one, with Kuhlmann taking questions from the audience throughout. One in particular, ‘what kind of lawyer does best at handling this kind of transaction?’, led to an interesting exchange on stage.

Closing remarks were given from the podium by Emi Takeda, Accenture’s legal director, who thanked the speakers, hosts and attendees for their efforts and summed up the day’s events expertly.

The conversation did not end there, though. After our final panel session, guests moved to a cocktail reception where any questions that were not answered during the scheduled time could be asked and answered freely. Those in attendance also got to catch up with old friends and colleagues who they have not had a chance to network with since in-person events were curtailed.

Heartfelt thanks to our event partners – Allen & Overy, King & Spalding, Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu, Nishimura & Asahi, So & Sato, EY Law Japan, TozziniFreire Advogados, City-Yuwa Partners, Miura and Partners, Iwata Godo and Ikeda and Someya – and all expert speakers and attendees for making this event such an enlightening and informative one for everyone involved. On a personal level, it was a true honour and career highlight to work on such a prestigious and successful event, and to hear such positive comments from those who were in the room.

The Legal 500 will be back next year for the GC Summit Japan 2023, which will build on the hard work everyone has put into this event to produce an even more extensive conference.

We look forward to seeing everyone who attended this year again at the next GC Summit Japan, and hope to welcome many more from the Japanese legal world who were unable to make it on this occasion.

In the meantime, The Legal 500 will continue to serve the Japanese legal community with rankings, analysis, news and in-person and online events. Watch this space!

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