Anderson Mori & Tomotsune‘s team engages in the full spectrum of work involving investment funds in Japan, with 'real depth backing up a broad and very experienced partner bench'. Harume Nakano leads the team alongside Kunihiko Morishita, which is praised as a ‘market-leading department in Japan‘ and described by one client as 'always the first choice’. ‘Responsive‘ practitioner Koichi Miyamoto is a key name to note in the team, especially in relation to financial regulatory issues, as is Akihito Miyake, who is ‘extremely clever and can draw upon his broad knowledge base to find commercial solutions to difficult complex problems’. 

Akio Kawamura heads up Atsumi & Sakai‘s investment funds team in Tokyo, and is well supported by Yukihito Machida, who leads the firm’s venture practice team. The team is particularly well regarded for its cross-border experience when advising foreign investors promoting funds in the Japanese market, an area in which the group is extremely active across the full life cycle of a fund. The group also advises clients on fund structures and handles offshore funds and the related regulatory filings. Elsewhere in the team, Ryuichi Nozaki is known for her expertise in investment fund management, including asset management and cross-border investment issues.

Yasuzo Takeno and ‘very seasoned lawyer’ Ken Miura head up Mori Hamada & Matsumoto‘s team. Miura ‘has a strong relationship with financial regulators’ and leads many regulatory matters for the team, while Takeno has strong knowledge of investment fund law and is praised as ‘one of the best lawyers in the investment fund and asset management business in Japan’. The group ‘has high quality lawyers advising the highest quality clients’, and has notable expertise assisting a high proportion of new non-Japanese funds looking to invest in Japan. Nobuharu Onishi ‘has become the go-to lawyer in the practice for investment funds’, praised as ‘very commercial, hands-on and technically exceptional’.

Nishimura & Asahi focuses on domestic funds with overseas investments but has the capacity to assist clients with a range of investment fund matters. Makoto Igarashi and Kei Ito are the pair leading the team; Igarashi has a long history of representing investment managers in connection with fundraising and investment issues. As well as displaying a knowledge of a range of investment funds including investment trusts, the team also assists with traditional asset management activities. Tsuyoshi Ito, Yoshiharu Kawamata and Kohei Ishida are key names in the group; Kawamata is frequently called upon for matters relating to private equity issues, mezzanine financings and infrastructure funds, and Ishida has a strong track record advising on investment fundraising.

Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu‘s practice is well known in Japan for being involved in matters related to private real estate funds including private REITS, and during 2022 and 2023, the firm also saw notable growth in its private equity fund and other alternative investment fund formation practices. Other key lawyers include cross-border fund expert Keiko Shimizu and Kensuke Suzuki, both of whom work on a range of fund formation and regulatory matters. The group also represents a number of J-REITs, and Takashi Itokawa is a go-to practitioner for matters in this space. Since publication, former practice head Hideka Mihara departed.

TMI Associates in Tokyo fields practitioners who ‘are able to understand the potential legal issues very well‘, and the group continues to increase the diversity of its fund practice, which advises on a broad range of funds including buyout funds, distressed funds and corporate reconstruction funds. Practice head Yoshiyasu Yamaguchi is instrumental in the group’s work related to structured finance and securitisation issues, while Sadao Maeda is ‘a very experienced legal adviser in terms of fund establishment’ and is described as ‘understanding the speciality of a fund’. Key clients instructing the group include asset management companies such as DBJ Asset Management, as well as fund managers established domestically and internationally. Kiyomi Kikuchi is extremely active in the team, and Takuma Taki is a key contact for listed infrastructure funds.

As well as offering clients a full service in relation to investment funds, Oh-Ebashi LPC & Partners‘ practice group also acts in a multidisciplinary fashion and is able to assist clients with transactional mandates and contentious issues. Takuyuki Sakurai is a standout practitioner in the team, with experience across fund management, venture capital, and structured finance work, as well as offshore investment funds. Among its client base are prominent venture capital funds and alternative investment management companies.

So & Sato Law Offices‘ fund's team is ‘distinctive in its expertise in venture capital finance‘ and is able to offer advice to funds throughout the life cycle of a project. The firm advises a range of clients, particularly domestic venture capitalists, which it assists with fundraisings and investments, both in Japan and internationally. Practice head Yuki Sato ‘has good knowledge and experience of the investment business‘ and is noted for her technological knowledge, while counsel Chiho Saito is particularly active in matters related to real estate investment funds.