Japan’s IP Experts 2026
15 February 2026
The government of Japan has made a formal request to OpenAI, asking the U.S.-based AI research and deployment company to refrain from copyright infringement as Sora 2’s ability to create videos featuring copyrighted characters from anime and video games.
The request was first reported by Japanese media outlet ITMedia and has been widely reported in English-language media.
OpenAI launched Sora 2 on October 1, 2025. It is capable of generating 20-second long videos at 1080p resolution. Since its launch, social media sites have featured numerous videos created by the app, some of which contained copyrighted characters from anime and video games including One Piece, Demon Slayer, Pokémon and Mario.
At a press conference in October, Minoru Kiuchi, Japan’s minister of state for IP and AI strategy, informed reporters about the request, which called on OpenAI to stop infringing on Japanese IP. Kiuchi described Japanese art such as manga and anime as “irreplaceable treasures.”
Meanwhile, Akihisa Shiozaki, a member of parliament from Japan’s ruling LDP party, wrote on X account that “the release of Sora 2 has once again highlighted the issue of AI and copyright.”
Also in October, a trade group representing publishers including Studio Ghibli, the animation studio behind films like Spirited Away and My Neighbor Totoro, published a letter to OpenAI, calling for it to stop training its AI models on their copyright content.
CODA, the Content Overseas Distribution Association, wrote: “CODA has confirmed that a large portion of content produced by Sora 2 closely resembles Japanese content or images. CODA has determined that this is the result of using Japanese content as machine learning data. In cases, as with Sora 2, where specific copyrighted works are reproduced or similarly generated as outputs, CODA considers that the act of replication during the machine learning process may constitute copyright infringement.”
CODA requested specifically that its members’ content not be used for machine learning without their permission, and that OpenAI “respond sincerely to claims and inquiries from CODA member companies regarding copyright infringement related to Sora 2’s outputs.”
CODA further noted that, “according to media reports, it has been stated that Sora 2 responds through an opt-out system based on requests from copyright holders. However, under Japan’s copyright system, prior permission is generally required for the use of copyrighted works, and there is no system allowing one to avoid liability for infringement through subsequent objections.”
AI has been a thorn in the side of Japanese publishers previously. In 2024, the Japan Newspaper Publishers & Editors Association called for search engines owned by tech companies like Google and Microsoft to obtain consent from news organizations, saying that search responses often resemble news stories, calling on the government to urgently review and revise laws related to IP.
As technology continues to evolve, Japan will almost certainly be at the forefront, which suggests that there will be great demand for the professional services of intellectual property lawyers in Japan for local and overseas clients. In this issue, we pay tribute to the best of them by presenting this year’s Japan’s IP Experts list. We asked a large number of IP professionals in the region, who are mostly in-house counsel and corporate legal managers, about what they were looking for from their legal service providers, so as to understand better what clients need and want today. Based on these answers, we have compiled our list of the Top 50 IP experts in Japan, lawyers who can best understand what their clients need and provide them with the best practical advice.
Our list is categorized with the specialized fields of the experts, including patents, trademarks, copyright, enforcement, licensing and franchising, media and entertainment, IT and telecoms, pharma and biotech, and IP litigation. A total of 50 top experts from 37 law firms are included here, including Japan’s largest IP firms and practices. Nakamura & Partners placed five lawyers on our list (Kei Iida, Yoshio Kumakura, Shinichiro Tanaka, Koichi Tsujii and Kazuhiko Yoshida), while Yuasa and Hara placed three (Hiromichi Aoki, Toshiaki Iimura and Osamu Yamamoto).
Seven different firms placed two lawyers each on our list: Abe, Ikubo & Katayama (Eiji Katayama and Hiroshi Kobayashi); Anderson Mori & Tomotsune (Akihito Nakamachi and Masayuki Yamanouchi); Asamura IP (Masahiro Asamura and Yoichi Inoue); Hiroe & Associates (Masanori Hiroe and Takenori Hiroe); Mori Hamada & Matsumoto (Atsushi Okada and Yoshifumi Onodera); Shiga International Patent Office (Shinya Jitsuhiro and Yasuhiko Murayama); and TMI Associates (Yoshiyuki Inaba and Shunji Sato). In addition to the large law firms, as the legal market of Japan keeps on maturing, there are also many competent smaller IP practice and boutique firms rising in the rankings. Among our top 50 list, 28 firms are represented by one lawyer.
Most of the lawyers named to our list have multiple practice specialties. Many of them are litigators, while others concentrate on prosecution work or provide strategic advice.
All of them have something in common: they are experts in their fields and, in one way or another, they provide extra value for their clients. They are Asia IP’s Japan IP Experts. – GREGORY GLASS
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| Japan 2026 | Firm | Trademarks | Patents | Copyright | Enforcement | Licensing & Franchising | Media & Entertainment | IT & Telecoms | Pharma & Biotech | IP Litigation |
| Takanori Abe | Abe & Partners | Trademarks | Patents | Copyright | \ | \ | \ | \ | Pharma & Biotech | IP Litigation |
| Atsushi Aoki | Seiwa Patent & Law | Trademarks | Patents | Copyright | Enforcement | \ | \ | \ | \ | IP Litigation |
| Hiromichi Aoki | Yuasa and Hara | Trademarks | \ | Copyright | \ | \ | \ | \ | \ | \ |
| Akiko Araki | Araki International IP & Law | Trademarks | Patents | \ | \ | Licensing & Franchising | \ | \ | Pharma & Biotech | IP Litigation |
| Masahiro Asamura | Asamura IP | Trademarks | Patents | Copyright | Enforcement | Licensing & Franchising | \ | \ | \ | IP Litigation |
| Toshiaki Etoh | Tashiro & Etoh Patent Bureau | \ | Patents | \ | \ | \ | \ | \ | \ | \ |
| Maxwell "Mac" Fox | Groombridge Wu Baughman & Stone | \ | Patents | \ | \ | Licensing & Franchising | \ | \ | Pharma & Biotech | IP Litigation |
| Tomoya Fujimoto | Shiomizaka | Trademarks | \ | Copyright | \ | \ | Media & Entertainment | \ | \ | IP Litigation |
| Kensaku Fukui | Kotto Dori Law Office | Trademarks | \ | Copyright | \ | \ | Media & Entertainment | \ | \ | \ |
| Masanori Hiroe | Hiroe & Associates | Trademarks | Patents | Copyright | \ | \ | \ | \ | \ | IP Litigation |
| Takenori Hiroe | Hiroe & Associates | Trademarks | Patents | Copyright | \ | Licensing & Franchising | \ | \ | \ | IP Litigation |
| Kei Iida | Nakamura & Partners | Trademarks | \ | Copyright | \ | Licensing & Franchising | Media & Entertainment | \ | \ | \ |
| Toshiaki Iimura | Yuasa and Hara | \ | Patents | Copyright | Enforcement | \ | \ | \ | \ | IP Litigation |
| Yoshiyuki Inaba | TMI Associates | Trademarks | Patents | \ | \ | Licensing & Franchising | \ | \ | \ | IP Litigation |
| Yoichi Inoue | Asamura IP | \ | Patents | \ | \ | \ | \ | \ | \ | \ |
| Hitomi Iwase | Nishimura & Asahi | Trademarks | Patents | Copyright | Enforcement | Licensing & Franchising | \ | \ | \ | IP Litigation |
| Shinya Jitsuhiro | Shiga International Patent Office | \ | Patents | \ | \ | \ | \ | \ | Pharma & Biotech | \ |
| Chie Kasahara | Atsumi & Sakai | Trademarks | Patents | \ | \ | \ | Media & Entertainment | IT & Telecoms | \ | \ |
| Eiji Katayama | Abe, Ikubo & Katayama | Trademarks | Patents | \ | Enforcement | \ | \ | \ | Pharma & Biotech | IP Litigation |
| Yoshitake Kihara | Fukami Patent Office | \ | Patents | \ | \ | \ | \ | \ | \ | \ |
| Hiroshi Kobayashi | Abe, Ikubo & Katayama | \ | Patents | \ | \ | \ | \ | \ | Pharma & Biotech | \ |
| Kumpei Kogure | Borders IP | Trademarks | \ | \ | \ | \ | \ | \ | \ | \ |
| Eiichiro Kubota | Kubota | Trademarks | Patents | \ | Enforcement | Licensing & Franchising | \ | \ | \ | IP Litigation |
| Yoshio Kumakura | Nakamura & Partners | Trademarks | Patents | \ | \ | \ | \ | \ | Pharma & Biotech | IP Litigation |
| Masatoshi Kurata | Suzuye & Suzuye | \ | Patents | \ | \ | \ | \ | IT & Telecoms | \ | \ |
| Masaki Mikami | Marks IP | Trademarks | \ | \ | Enforcement | Licensing & Franchising | \ | \ | \ | \ |
| Manabu Miyajima | Kyowa Patent and Law Office | Trademarks | \ | \ | \ | \ | \ | \ | \ | IP Litigation |
| Hidekazu Miyoshi | Miyoshi & Miyoshi | Trademarks | Patents | Copyright | \ | \ | \ | \ | \ | IP Litigation |
| Yasuhiko Murayama | Shiga International Patent Office | \ | Patents | \ | \ | \ | \ | \ | \ | \ |
| Akihito Nakamachi | Anderson Mori & Tomotsune | Trademarks | Patents | \ | \ | Licensing & Franchising | Media & Entertainment | IT & Telecoms | \ | \ |
| Kenichi Nakayama | Sugimura & Partners | Trademarks | \ | Copyright | \ | \ | \ | \ | \ | IP Litigation |
| Seiji Ohno | Ohno & Partners | \ | Patents | \ | \ | Licensing & Franchising | \ | \ | \ | IP Litigation |
| Atsushi Okada | Mori Hamada & Matsumoto | Trademarks | Patents | \ | Enforcement | \ | \ | IT & Telecoms | \ | IP Litigation |
| Yoshifumi Onodera | Mori Hamada & Matsumoto | Trademarks | Patents | \ | Enforcement | Licensing & Franchising | \ | \ | \ | IP Litigation |
| Katsumasa Osaki | Kawaguti & Partners | \ | Patents | \ | Enforcement | \ | \ | \ | Pharma & Biotech | IP Litigation |
| Hideo Ozaki | City-Yuwa Partners | \ | Patents | \ | \ | Licensing & Franchising | \ | \ | \ | IP Litigation |
| Akihiro Ryuka | Ryuka IP Law Firm | \ | Patents | \ | \ | Licensing & Franchising | \ | \ | \ | \ |
| Masahiro Samejima | Uchida & Samejima Law Firm | \ | Patents | \ | \ | Licensing & Franchising | \ | IT & Telecoms | \ | IP Litigation |
| Shunji Sato | TMI Associates | Trademarks | \ | Copyright | Enforcement | \ | \ | \ | \ | IP Litigation |
| Takamitsu Shigetomi | Oh-Ebashi LPC & Partners | Trademarks | Patents | \ | \ | Licensing & Franchising | \ | \ | Pharma & Biotech | IP Litigation |
| Masayuki Shobayashi | Shobayashi International Patent & Trademark Office | Trademarks | Patents | \ | \ | \ | \ | \ | Pharma & Biotech | \ |
| Yoshitaka Sonoda | Sonoda & Kobayashi | \ | Patents | \ | \ | \ | \ | \ | \ | IP Litigation |
| Shinichiro Tanaka | Nakamura & Partners | Trademarks | Patents | \ | Enforcement | \ | Media & Entertainment | \ | \ | IP Litigation |
| Hideya Tsuba | Tokyo Kyodo Patent Office | Trademarks | Patents | \ | Enforcement | Licensing & Franchising | \ | \ | \ | IP Litigation |
| Koichi Tsujii | Nakamura & Partners | Trademarks | \ | \ | \ | \ | \ | \ | \ | \ |
| Kozo Yabe | Midosuji LPC | Trademarks | Patents | Copyright | Enforcement | \ | \ | \ | \ | IP Litigation |
| Kensaku Yamamoto | Shusaku Yamamoto | Trademarks | Patents | \ | \ | Licensing & Franchising | \ | \ | \ | IP Litigation |
| Osamu Yamamoto | Yuasa and Hara | \ | Patents | \ | \ | \ | \ | \ | \ | IP Litigation |
| Masayuki Yamanouchi | Anderson Mori & Tomotsune | \ | Patents | \ | \ | Licensing & Franchising | \ | \ | Pharma & Biotech | \ |
| Kazuhiko Yoshida | Nakamura & Partners | Trademarks | Patents | \ | \ | Licensing & Franchising | Media & Entertainment | \ | \ | IP Litigation |
Japan’s IP Experts is based solely on independent editorial research conducted by Asia IP. As part of this project, we turned to thousands of in-house counsel in Japan, Asia and around the world, as well as Japan-focused partners at international law firms, and asked them to nominate private-practice lawyers including foreign legal consultants, advisers and counsel.
The final list reflects the nominations received combined with the input of the editorial team at Asia IP, which has more than 55 years of collective experience in researching and understanding the legal market in Japan.
All private practice intellectual property lawyers working at law firms in Japan were eligible for inclusion in the nominations process; there were no fees or any other requirements for inclusion in the process.
The names of our 50 IP Experts are published here. Each IP Expert was given the opportunity to include their biography and contact details in print and on our website, for which a fee was charged.
