Happy new year. I would like to thank all of our clients for their support of our firm during 2019.

This month marks the 25^th anniversary of the Great Hanshin earthquake, which occurred on 17^th January 1995 and caused much loss of life and destruction, including the collapse of our office building.

Masaru Oshiro, the former principal of Higashimachi Law Office, died shortly after the earthquake, so Takao Kinoshita, Satoru Kohdera and I formed a partnership which created a new beginning for the firm and has become the foundation of Higashimachi’s current structure. Since then, our firm has steadily grown in size and, in 2010 we incorporated as a legal professional corporation (LPC) and opened offices in Tokyo and Imabari, so the 10^th anniversary of these developments is also quickly approaching.

The last 25 years have witnessed tremendous changes in society, both within Japan and throughout the world. Naturally, the environment in which lawyers work has also seen major changes. Throughout this period, we as a firm have devoted our efforts to keeping up with the times so that we can continue to be an organisation that provides prompt and appropriate legal services. In particular, we have expanded the range of our practice areas through the fostering of specialist practitioners and increased our international focus through our associates studying abroad and the formation of relationships with firms in other jurisdictions.

We have also overcome the obstacles which arise when an organisation expands and have worked to maintain our commitment to our philosophy of teamwork, quality and communication.

2020 is the 97^th year of our firm’s existence, so as we approach our 100^th anniversary, all the lawyers in our firm will remain committed to working as a team to provide the best service possible to our clients.

In closing, on behalf of all of the partners, associates and staff of Higashimachi LPC, I wish you a prosperous and happy 2020.

Yoshihiro Uetani
Managing Partner
Higashimachi LPC