Mimura Komatsu Law Firm Welcomes 5 New Lawyers in April 2026

Newly Joined Lawyers: From left to right: Naoki Kurokawa, Sonoka Morikawa, Mayuu Arai, Chihiro Makishi, Kenshi Mitsu

Mimura Komatsu Law Firm (Location: Meiji Seimei Kan, 2-1-1 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo) is pleased to announce that five lawyers joined the firm in April 2026. With this addition, the total number of affiliated lawyers, including foreign lawyers, has reached 30.

This growth is a testament to the track record and trust the firm has built, primarily in areas where Mimura Komatsu Law Firm holds strong expertise—intellectual property, litigation, and international cases—rooted in its founding ambition to "build a firm strong in litigation." Moving forward, based on the firm's philosophy of "proposing one step beyond the answers clients seek," we will provide one-stop, specialized legal services across a wide range of fields, including IP, trade secrets, entertainment, medical corporations, and labor law, which are the specialties of the five newly joined lawyers.

[Introduction of Newly Joined Lawyers]

Naoki Kurokawa
Lawyer and Patent Attorney. After experiencing IP practice at multiple law firms, he has served as a fixed-term public official at the Intellectual Property Policy Office, Economic and Industrial Policy Bureau, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) since 2022, directly engaging in drafting IP policies such as revising the guidelines for managing trade secrets and amending the Unfair Competition Prevention Act. In addition to a proven track record in cases such as patent infringement lawsuits, suits for revocation of trial decisions, and patent oppositions, he is active in both research and practice, speaking at domestic and international IP symposiums and writing articles for specialized journals such as NBL. He currently also serves as a researcher for the Civil Affairs Bureau of the Ministry of Justice (Study Group on the State of Civil Liability Regarding the Unauthorized Use of Portraits, Voices, etc.).

Chihiro Makishi
After registering as a lawyer, she worked as an in-house lawyer at a medical corporation, experiencing legal practice for hospitals, nursing facilities, and nursing schools. Subsequently, at a Tokyo law firm, she handled a wide variety of cases from general corporate law such as copyright (publishing, film, etc.) and labor, to family and criminal cases, and was also in charge of numerous litigation cases. She has co-authored multiple books across a wide range of fields including labor law, medical device-related matters, and school legal affairs, in addition to "Copyright Q&A for Websites (2nd Edition)" (co-authored). She handles a broad spectrum of areas including labor issues, copyright, criminal law, and inheritance.

Sonoka Morikawa
After experiencing corporate law in the startup and IT sectors at a Tokyo law firm, she joined Sony Music Entertainment. As an in-house lawyer, she engaged in the practice of contract negotiation, copyright management, and artist-related legal affairs for music and video content. As a lawyer with in-house experience in the entertainment and content sector, she will further expand the firm's strengths.
She is also dedicated to supporting dancers and dances herself.

Kenshi Mitsu
After registering with the Osaka Bar Association, he worked at a comprehensive law firm. He has handled a wide range of cases including general civil matters, corporate law, debt collection, and labor issues for SMEs and individuals. Bringing responsiveness and case processing experience cultivated through practice in the Kansai region, he joined Mimura Komatsu Law Firm in 2026. As a lawyer with a background in the Osaka Bar Association, he handles cases on both a Kansai and national scale. He has a strong interest in fashion law and excels at providing practical support leveraging his interactions with stylists and buyers.

Mayuu Arai
Registered as a lawyer and joined Mimura Komatsu Law Firm in 2026. Interested in corporate law and civil litigation since her student days, she mastered the foundations of legal thinking and litigation practice at Chuo University Law School. At this firm, which possesses diverse specialized fields such as litigation, IP, and entertainment, she is enhancing her expertise while accumulating practical experience in each area.
Furthermore, utilizing her experience and knowledge gained from involvement in Noh performance management, she provides practical support for traditional performing arts and crafts.

About Mimura Komatsu Law Firm

Mimura Komatsu Law Firm is a law firm established in 2019 out of a desire to "build a firm strong in litigation." Since its founding, we have touted our three pillars of "IP, Litigation, and Overseas" as our strengths, cultivating expertise in various industrial sectors.
Our firm is home to lawyers with profound knowledge in IP legal affairs, litigation practice, and corporate law, including former judges of the Intellectual Property High Court, professors at the Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology at the University of Tokyo, former secondees to the Cabinet Office and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, and individuals from the entertainment and content industry. In the field of litigation and dispute resolution, multiple lawyers who excel in litigation and former judges collaborate to handle a wide range of cases including large-scale litigation, IP disputes, administrative cases, and criminal cases. Furthermore, regarding international cases, we have welcomed Mr. Randall Rader, former Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC), as an advisor, and by collaborating with multiple overseas law firms, we have established a system capable of handling cross-border cases. In corporate law, we handle a broad spectrum of areas including company incorporation, trademark registration, finance, corporate restructuring, corporate governance, the Act against Unjustifiable Premiums and Misleading Representations, the Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Act, personal information protection and privacy, human resources and labor relations, and trade secrets.