Akira Nakazawa

Akira Nakazawa is our exclusively recommended Corporate Law expert in Japan on the Advisory Excellence website. If you need assistance in this area, please contact Akira directly using the contact details listed above.

Akira focuses his practice on banking, asset finance, securitization and structured finance. Akira also advices on overall corporate transactions including M&A, tender offer, private equity investments. In addition to transactional matters, he advices on Japanese regulatory matters including finance, life sciences, food and sanitary laws, privacy and data protection, and anti-corruption. He also has vast experiences in compliance matters for various companies including financial institutions and pharmaceutical companies.

Akira was educated at Tokyo University and the Legal Research and Training Institute of the Supreme Court of Japan. He was admitted as a Japanese bengoshi in 1997 and is a member of the Dai-ichi Tokyo Bar Association and the New York Bar. He completed an LL.M at Northwestern University School of Law in 2002. Previously he worked at one of the Japanese mega banks. He speaks Japanese and English.

Our corporate team led by Akira Nakazawa acts for domestic and international clients in various industries and advises on a wide range of corporate issues including corporate governance, M&A and corporate finance. Based on experiences in working at Tokyo offices of leading global law firms, we provide with practical and strategic advice to resolve various issues from the perspectives of both Japanese and western minds.

Firm Overview:

Vanguard Lawyers Tokyo specializes in providing Japanese legal services to a broad range of multinational clients in the areas of Japanese employment law, dispute resolution, financial regulatory matters, life science regulatory matters and corporate matters. We have worked on a variety of challenging, high profile and complex mandates in recent years. Thanks to various projects we have worked on to date and the support and assistance our clients have extended to us, we have been highly ranked in the respective fields mentioned above in various international legal publications such as Chambers and Legal 500. Most recently, Vanguard Lawyers Tokyo was awarded the “Boutique Law Firm of the Year” and the “Labour and Employment Law Firm of the Year” at the ALB Japan Law Awards 2022 organized by Asian Legal Business (ALB).

Keeping the basic philosophy represented by the word “Vanguard” in mind, we provide creative solutions, and proactive and practical advice to multinational clients to navigate complex Japanese legal issues.