Nagashima receives awards in two categories at the FT Innovative Lawyers Asia-Pacific Awards 2026, with firm-wide recognition

Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu (“Nagashima”) won in two categories at the FT Innovative Lawyers Asia-Pacific Awards 2026 and received further firm-wide recognition. Nagashima is the only Japanese law firm to have won an award at this year’s edition.

The awards ceremony, hosted by Financial Times (FT), was held in Hong Kong on May 14, 2026. Nagashima and its lawyers were recognized as follows:

• Innovative Lawyers in Dealmaking

This achievement was recognized the “Winner” due to the efforts of Kenji Horiuchi and Kyohei Mizukoshi, who proposed necessary tax reforms to government ministries and regulators during the execution of Japan’s first partial spin-off by a company utilizing the group tax relief regime. They facilitated the enactment of these tax reforms, ensuring that the partial spin-off proceeded according to the client’s original timeline. This accomplishment received the highest evaluation not only in dealmaking but across all areas.

• Legal Intrapreneur: Ryuhei Itaya

Ryuhei Itaya was named “Winner” in recognition of his founding of MNTSQ, a LegalTech venture established with backing from Nagashima, which aims to deliver legal digital transformation (DX) through technology, and his work through building partnerships with Nagashima and other leading firms to transform the delivery of legal services. MNTSQ has brought companies engaged in contract-related work closer to handling such matters with greater consistency, fairness, and efficiency.

Furthermore, in the “Innovation in Knowledge and Data” category, a Nagashima team led by partners Hironori Matsuo and Kayo Takigawa was named a “Standout” in recognition of its collaboration with MNTSQ to develop a contract review playbook embedded in MNTSQ’s Knowledge Management System and AI Contract Assistant.

Nagashima was also ranked the top Japanese firm in the “FT Law Firm Index – Asia-Pacific,” the FT’s overall ranking of participating Asia-Pacific law firms and received a perfect score in the “Innovation” category.

For more details, please refer to the following:
FT Innovative Lawyers Asia-Pacific Awards 2026
Special Report – Japanese text opens new legal tech chapter
Special Report – Practice of law: case studies
Special Report – Business of law: case studies