Masako Takahata, vice president of the Japan In-House lawyers Association (JILA), lent her speaking expertise to the inaugural webinar of the Japan chapter of the Energy Related Arbitration Practitioners (ENERAP), of which she is also the founder.
At the virtual event on 20 January titled “Japanese parties and trends in energy dispute resolution”, Takahata, a GC at Japanese advisory firm Industrial Decisions, discussed investor-state disputes in the energy or resources sector.
“The JILA has participated in arbitration-related conferences for several years, with the aim to increase awareness of the contribution that Japanese companies and/or Japan’s FDI can bring to the diversified world of the arbitration community,” Takahata told Asia Business Law Journal.
“I believe that the message is allied with ENERAP’s desire for diversity, while supported by Japanese government initiatives for promoting arbitration.”
Other speakers at the event included: Waseda University’s law professor, Yuka Fukunaga; Peter Harris, counsel at Clifford Chance in Tokyo and chair of ENERAP’s Japan chapter; Aoi Inoue, a partner at Anderson Mori & Tomotsune in Tokyo; Kohei Murakawa, a partner at Atsumi & Sakai in Tokyo; and Marose Pereira, counsel at Oh-Ebashi in Tokyo.
The event also featured the following guest speakers: Alejandro Carballo Leyda, GC and head of the conflict resolution centre at the International Energy Charter in Brussels; Gloria Lim, CEO at the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC); Michele Sonen, head of Northeast Asia at the SIAC; Lars Markert, partner at Nishimura & Asahi and co-chair of the investment arbitration sub-committee of the Inter-Pacific Bar Association; and Hiroyuki Tezuka, a partner at Nishimura & Asahi and deputy director at Japan Association of Arbitrators.
