TEAM

HAJIME TAURA
Hajime Taura
Admitted to the Japanese bar in 2011 (Dai-Ichi Tokyo Bar Association) and as a New York State attorney in 2020. Previously worked at Yahoo Japan Corporation (now LY Corporation)Legal Department, Anderson Mori & Tomotsune, and Morgan Lewis & Bockius San Francisco Office (trainee). His main practice areas include data protection law including the Personal Information Protection Act.
HIROAKI ASAHARA
Hiroaki Asahara
Admitted to the Japanese bar in 2012 (Dai-Ichi Tokyo Bar Association). Previously worked at City-Yuwa Partners and MICIN, Inc. (Business Development, Public Affairs, Legal). Currently serves as a committee member of the Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (AMED) "Working Group for Formulating Development Guidance (Draft) on Surgical Data Collection and Utilization," an expert consultant for the AMED-supported project HealthTechHub Chugoku-Shikoku, a specially appointed fellow at the Ohara Memorial Institute for Medical Research within the Kurashiki Central Hospital Foundation Medical Device Development Department, and as a Director and Chair of Section 6 of the Japan In-house Lawyers Association. His main practice areas include startup investment, M&A, contracts related to business development and other corporate areas, regulations in the medical and healthcare fields, public affairs strategy planning, and business development strategy planning.
SHOHEI ONISHI
Shohei Onishi
Admitted to the Japanese bar in 2012 (Daini Tokyo Bar Association). Previously worked at Yahoo Japan Corporation (now LINE Yahoo Corporation) Corporate Policy Planning Division, Sato & Partners, and Miura & Partners. Currently serves as External Director, Audit & Supervisory Committee Member, and Nomination Committee Member at SmartHR, Inc., External Director at Wellness Communications Inc., External Auditor at Kaminashi, Inc., and Advisor to the Startup Ecosystem Tokyo Consortium. His main practice areas include startup investment, M&A, IPO, regulatory compliance, and crisis management. In 2022, he was ranked 8th in the intellectual property section of the Weekly Toyo Keizai "Top Lawyers Selected by Legal Department Members," and in 2024, he was selected as a "Lawyer Startups Rely On" by the Nikkei Newspaper.
TATSUYA YAMAUCHI
Tatsuya Yamauchi
Admitted to the Japanese bar in 2014 (Daini Tokyo Bar Association). Previously worked at SoftBank Corp. (now SoftBank Group Corp.) Legal Department and Hori & Partners. Currently serves as External Auditor at KiteRa, Inc. His main practice areas include financial legal services for various financial institutions (banks, securities, trusts, non-banks, VC/CVC, asset management firms, etc.) and Fintech companies as well as cases involving domestic and international M&A and financing, and startup investment.
TSUBASA YAMAMOTO
Tsubasa Yamamoto
Admitted to the Japanese bar in 2015 (Daini Tokyo Bar Association). Previously worked at Nakamura & Partners and amaneku Law Office. Currently serves as External Auditor at AVILEN Inc., committee member for the Cabinet Office's "University Intellectual Property Governance Guidelines," and Visiting Professor at Osaka Institute of Technology Graduate School (International IP Business Contract Theory) and other institutions. His main practice areas include intellectual property strategy formulation and implementation support, intellectual property dispute response, open innovation, industry-academia collaboration, and preparation for public listing. In 2020, he received the Encouragement Award in the IP Expert Category at the 1st IP BASE AWARD ceremony hosted by the Japan Patent Office, and in 2022, he was ranked 1st in the intellectual property section of the Weekly Toyo Keizai "Lawyers Selected by Legal Department Members Ranking."