I am pleased to announce that I have returned to Higashimachi’s Tokyo office after spending approximately a year and a half of studying and training in the UK and other countries.

The main objective of my time abroad was to undertake a Masters of Law (LLM) in international shipping law at Queen Mary University of London. In this course I studied a wide range of maritime matters, such as charter parties, carriage of goods, marine insurance, international regulations (flag, safety of life, harbours, marine pollution, etc.), admiralty law (arrest of ships, liens), and wet shipping (collision, salvage of ships, wreck removal), and completed a dissertation entitled “The legal impact of revision of Japanese maritime law on collisions of ships and comparison with English law”.

During the subsequent training period, I spent time at six law firms and P&I clubs in London, Newcastle (UK), Dusseldorf (Germany) and Singapore. I was involved in litigation and arbitration proceedings for wet and dry shipping, handling cargo claims at a P&I club, and a variety of internal training sessions, as well as mergers and acquisitions for Japanese and German companies. Through this I gained experience in legal research, legal interpretation of foreign laws, and litigation and arbitration in practice.

Furthermore, by actively participating in external meetings, social gatherings and courtesy visits, I am proud to have strengthened our firm’s relationships with other firms, and to have built new networks that are difficult to obtain in Japan.

After returning to Tokyo, Japan, I hope to use the knowledge and networks acquired through my studying and training abroad for the benefit of our clients and all concerned, through seminars, publications and practical casework.

Kazuya Yamashita