Japan

Our Firm's history in Japan and our global platform are ideal for providing the legal guidance clients need to succeed in today's markets. With more than 35 years of experience in Tokyo, we bring insight and experience in relation to corporate law matters, mergers and acquisitions, financial transactions and regulation, projects and energy, commercial disputes, antitrust, intellectual property and real estate.

White & Case was the first foreign law firm in Japan to establish a joint enterprise with Japan-licensed bengoshi, providing clients with one-stop access to Japanese and global legal services. Our deep knowledge at local, regional and global levels enables us to guide our clients through the most complex matters they face today.

White & Case established its office in Tokyo in 1987. Since then, we have grown into one of the largest law firms in Japan, drawing upon a diverse team of bengoshi and lawyers qualified internationally, principally in the United States and England & Wales, who consistently deliver results for our clients. Most of our lawyers are fluent in English and Japanese, and are longstanding residents of Japan. With a deep understanding of local business and industry trends, we guide clients through the cultural intricacies of doing cross-border business involving Japan, both inbound and outbound.

One of the critical elements of our success in Japan has been that we are a full-service law firm and able to advise on virtually all business matters, including corporate law, mergers and acquisitions, financial transactions and regulation, projects and energy, commercial disputes, antitrust, intellectual property and real estate.

We assemble the best teams and work seamlessly across borders for our clients.

Download our Tokyo brochure

Download our Tokyo office access map

Corporate/Mergers & Acquisitions
Our M&A team is composed of both Japan-admitted bengoshi and lawyers admitted in other jurisdictions, principally the United States and England & Wales, and is led by seasoned international and Japanese lawyers recognized as longstanding leaders in the Tokyo legal market and business community.

We are not interested in simply conducting due diligence and documenting deals. We seek to provide tangible value to our clients at every stage of a transaction, from identifying strategic objectives and designing optimal transaction structures that advance those objectives to evaluating and managing operational and legal risks, advising on corporate governance issues, and planning and supporting post-closing integration.

Our Japan M&A team brings to each transaction the full array of White & Case's unparalleled global resources in a seamless, cost-effective manner, enabling us to run extremely complex transactions involving numerous, worldwide jurisdictions entirely out of our Tokyo office.

Debt finance and restructuring
Debt finance and restructuring are at the core of White & Case's practice globally. Our clients benefit from our ability to support and guide them in executing complex, heavily negotiated financial transactions across multiple time zones and jurisdictions.

Our team has extensive experience in syndicated loans and all manner of acquisition financings, leveraged buyouts, secured and unsecured financing transactions, securitizations and structured financings. Members of our team have played key roles in many groundbreaking transactions.

Our dedicated business restructuring and insolvency group is highly regarded in the market for its ability to provide a blended service across the five core areas of banking, capital markets, insolvency, litigation and private equity.

We advise creditors, debtors and other market participants on all aspects of distressed business enterprise transactions and regularly act for insolvency appointment takers from the major accountancy firms and boutique players. Our emphasis is on finding constructive, innovative and cost-efficient solutions.

Our dual-qualified and bilingual restructuring and insolvency lawyers in Tokyo form a formidable team that is well-versed in the full range of Japanese, US, and English insolvency and restructuring techniques.

Project development and finance
We have developed an array of innovative solutions for some of the largest projects in the world, earning us a reputation for offering creative advice that meets the commercial needs of our clients.

Our Tokyo-based team advises on legal matters related to project structuring and development, financing, mergers and acquisitions, offtake and transportation, government regulation, construction, operation and maintenance, and other project- related issues. We advise across sectors ranging from oil and gas, LNG, petrochemicals and mining and metals, to power, telecommunications and other infrastructure. We are also active in the rapidly growing energy transition space advising across solar, wind, battery and energy storage systems as well as hydrogen. Our team has advised on some of the largest and most prominent deals in the world, including the majority of LNG projects in the market today as well as many of Asia's most cutting-edge renewable projects.

We have represented sponsors and lenders on a number of landmark transactions worldwide. Our work includes representing Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) and other lenders in the US$ multibillion financing of the development of a gas liquefaction facility in Mozambique. We have also represented leading Japanese gas and electric utilities in relation to equity investments in greenfield LNG projects and arrangements for foundation LNG offtake from those projects and advised one of the world's largest solar technology and renewable energy companies in connection with a number of Japan inbound investments in Japan's solar sector.

Investment Funds
Having advised a broad range of clients that include sponsors in both developed and emerging markets, as well as global institutional investors, our Japan investment funds team represents the full range of private equity, real estate, infrastructure, credit and secondaries funds, as well as hedge and hybrid funds.

Our clients choose us because we are able to serve as a one-stop shop to assist with all phases of a fund's lifecycle, covering the structuring and organization of upper-tier management entities, the structuring, marketing, maintenance and operation of investment fund vehicles, carried interest arrangements, downstream transactions, co-investments, fund governance, fund restructurings, exits, and wind-downs. Whether a client is an established fund sponsor or a new entrant seeking to raise its first fund, our Japan investment funds team can assist with structuring investment vehicles, considering the diverse needs of the sponsor and its particular investment objectives, and providing the critical guidance necessary to successfully negotiate the fundraising process.

We are ideally situated to advise fund sponsors regarding structures that are designed to meet their commercial objectives and cater to the evolving tax, regulatory and operational requirements of the fund's investors, regardless of where those investors may be domiciled.

Real estate
In today's complex world, virtually all real estate investment is multifaceted. The success of real estate projects and investments often hinges on innovative structuring, financing and development techniques. We offer integrated advice across a range of practice areas, uniquely tailored for each transaction. Our team of responsive and commercially focused lawyers is experienced in virtually every aspect of Japanese real estate and real estate financing. Our lawyers have an understanding of the business issues you face, and they provide integrated and focused solutions, transforming local knowledge into clear advice.

Drawing upon the experience and capabilities of White & Case worldwide, our Japan practice provides a full range of legal services relating to the ownership, assembly, acquisition, development, construction, litigation, operation, management, financing and securitization of real estate and nonperforming loan assets in Japan.

Disputes and competition
Our Tokyo dispute resolution team consists of Japanese, US and UK-admitted lawyers. This team assists in developing effective safeguards to avoid disputes and risks before they arise, and achieves fast, cost-effective solutions when they do. Our Tokyo office has a depth of experience in dispute resolution methods across all business, financial and industrial sectors and activities, with particular experience in disputes and counseling involving: antitrust and competition, aviation and shipping, construction and engineering, distribution and supply agreements, employment issues, finance transaction disputes, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, infrastructure projects, insolvency and restructuring, intellectual property, international trade/WTO, M&A and joint ventures, product liability and product safety, regulatory investigations, and white collar crime.

Our team is able to draw on the resources of our global network of more than 500 dispute resolution-specialized lawyers, ensuring that we act seamlessly for clients across multiple jurisdictions and time zones.

AWARDS & RECOGNITION

Band 1 for Banking & Finance: Domestic, Japan
Band 1 for Banking & Finance: International, Japan
Chambers Global 2024 and Chambers Asia-Pacific 2024

Band 1 for International & Cross-Border Capabilities (International Firm), Japan
Chambers Global 2024

Tier 1 in Corporate and M&A, Japan Region
Tier 1 in Projects and Energy, Japan Region
The Legal 500 Asia Pacific 2023

Japan International Law Advisers of the Year
Chambers Asia Pacific & Greater China Region Awards 2022

Technology, Media & Telecom M&A Legal Adviser of the Year
Mergermarket Japan M&A Awards 2022

One of ALB Top 10 Firms in Japan for cross border M&A
Asian Legal Business (ALB), 2022

One of 10 outstanding law firms for D&I in Japan
ALB Japan D&I List 2022

Banking and Financial Services Law Firm of the Year
Asian Legal Business (ALB) Japan Law Awards 2020

Best International Law Firm Country Award – Japan
Euromoney Asia Women in Law Award 2019

Debt Market Deal of the Year
(Bain Capital's Tender Offer for Hitachi Metals)
Asian Legal Business (ALB) Japan Law Awards 2023

Asia-Pacific Offshore Wind Deal of the Year 2023
(Hai Long)
Project Finance International (PFI) Awards 

M&A Deal of the Year (Premium)
(CVC's acquisition of Shiseido)
Asian Legal Business (ALB) Japan Law Awards 2022

Power Deal of the Year – Middle East & Africa
(Project Lightning)
Project Finance International (PFI) Awards 2022

Global Multilateral Deal of the Year
(Mozambique LNG)
Project Finance International (PFI) Awards 2020

Real Estate Deal of the Year
(AXA Investment Managers - Real Assets' Joint Venture with ESR)
Asian Legal Business (ALB) Japan Law Awards 2019