- Notices
Trial Observation and Roundtable Discussion for Koen Girls Junior & Senior High School Students
On March 26, 2025, Nishimura & Asahi’s Legal Education Team hosted a trial observation followed by a roundtable discussion for Koen Girls Junior & Senior High School students.
Tokyo partners Takeshi Nemoto, Ichita Matsunaga, and Tokyo associate Yurara Hirayama (an alumni of the school) accompanied the students to the Tokyo District Court and observed the trial together. After the trial, Matsunaga gave commentary on criminal trials in a conference room at our Tokyo office, where the students asked lively questions and gave their thoughts about the trial.
Some of their comments were as follows:
"Why do prosecutors carry documents in Japanese furoshiki?"
"How do witnesses prepare before being questioned?"
"I was surprised that the accused did not enter the courtroom in handcuffs, but instead came into the courtroom in casual clothing."
After the lecture and Q&A session about the court hearings, participants were split into small groups for a round-table discussion. The students asked second-year female lawyers questions about their job, career, work-life balance, education, and more.
We hope these types of initiatives contribute to students considering their future careers and ultimately increase the number of women entering the legal profession.
People
In his career as a judge, Ichita Matsunaga has worked in several district courts such as the Tokyo District Court and the Sapporo District Court. In those courts he handled wide range of civil cases such as corporate disputes, labor disputes, and other various cases for damages as well as administrative cases including tax disputes and disputes related to financial products. When he worked for the Secretariat of the Supreme Court, he handled judicial administrative affairs regarding intellectual property disputes and was in charge of preparatory work for the digitalization of civil proceedings. While working at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he was in charge of international cooperation on counter terrorism, counter transnational organized crime and anti-corruption as well as domestic implementation of those matters. He also handled domestic implementation of the recommendations developed by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). While working for the Sapporo District Court, he gave a lecture on civil procedure and practice at Hokkaido University Law School as visiting professor.
Yurara HIRAYAMA
- Associate
- Tokyo
Chisaki INABETSU
- Associate
- Tokyo
Megumi MIYANO
- Associate
- Tokyo
Mayu SHINDO
- Associate
- Tokyo
Mirei OTA
- Associate
- Tokyo
Moeka WADA
- Associate
- Tokyo
Takeshi has handled many complex M&A transactions and provides sincere advice to his clients. He has extensive experience in M&A-related disputes, and is well versed in the various issues facing companies with founding family shareholders. In recent years, he has been involved in many cases involving business and human rights, impact investing, and advises companies from the perspective of sustainability. He is also actively involved in pro bono work and is one of the most experienced in Japan.