15 May 2025

We are pleased to announce that Michio Aoki will give a course lectures as a Shipping Business Training Course entitled “Basics of Special Charter Parties for Offshore Wind Supporting Vessels (3 sessions in total)” hosted by the Japan Shipping Exchange, Inc. on 11, 18, 25 September 2025. The details of the lecture will be published soon by the Japan Shipping Exchange, Inc.

13 May 2025

Michio Aoki gave a presentation in the work shop for CMI Mobile Offshore Renewable Units International Working Group in CMI Tokyo conference as Michio is a member of CMI MORU IWG. MORUs Panel Discussion was also held on 16 May 2025.

1 May 2025

We are pleased to announce that we have been selected as a finalist of “Maritime Law firm of the Year 2025” at the ALB Japan Law Awards 2025, hosted by Asian Legal Business, a publication from Thomson Reuters. The winner will be announced at the ceremony which will take place on 12 June 2025 in Tokyo.

1 May 2025

Michio Aoki and Yuto Matsumura contributed an article entitled “English-Japanese Parallel Translation IMCA Renewables Contracting Principles (1)” for the Maritime Law Review of Japan (May 2025 issue), No.267, Page 12.

1 May 2025

 Kenichiro Kurosawa contributed an article entitled “Before considering frustration of time charterparties – The Hong Kong Fir revisited (8)” for the Maritime Law Review of Japan (May 2025 issue), No.267, Page 56.

23 April 2025

Michio Aoki gave a special presentation in the training programs for junior staff in the maritime industry entitled “Maritime Academia” held by the Japan Maritime Daily in Tokyo University. More than 90% of participants gave the programs a high evaluation.
1 April 2025We are pleased to announce that we have welcomed a new master mariner, Taishi Okamoto, to our firm. Taishi has joined us after working for several shipping companies for 10 years. Taishi has various boarding experiences as an officer of ocean-going vessels and geological survey ships. Also, Taishi has experienced various ship-related issues such as ship management, crew management, inspection and PSC management, shipbuilding superintendent support, and so on. Joined by Taishi gives us more practical insights.
1 April 2025The Japan Maritime Daily (JMD) has opened its registration window for the training programs for junior staff in the maritime industry entitled “Maritime Academia” in which the JMD’s reporters will give lectures as to various hot topics and industry trends and Michio Aoki will give a special presentation.
31 March 2025Michio Aoki contributed an article entitled “Maritime Law in the Reiwa Era No. 35: Enactment of Magna Carta in Philippine and Increasing presence of DMW” for the Japan Maritime Daily.
12 February 2025The video of the WFO Asia Pacific Summit 2024 in which Michio Aoki participated in panel discussion entitled “Mitigating Project Risk (1) From the Perspective of Project Interface” has been released on youtube.
12 February 2025The Japan Maritime Daily (JMD) has opened its registration window for the training programs for junior staff in the maritime industry entitled “Maritime Academia” in which the JMD’s reporters will give lectures as to various hot topics and industry trends and Michio Aoki will give a special presentation.
12 February 2025The video of the WFO Asia Pacific Summit 2024 in which Michio Aoki participated in panel discussion entitled “Mitigating Project Risk (1) From the Perspective of Project Interface” has been released on youtube.
1 February 2025Kenichiro Kurosawa contributed an article entitled “Before considering frustration of time charterparties – The Hong Kong Fir revisited (7)” for the Maritime Law Review of Japan (February 2025 issue), No.266, Page24.
1 February 2025We are very pleased to share that the book entitled “A Study of Maritime Liens under US Law” written by Yohei Ito will be published on 26 February 2025. This book is a re-composition of the series of papers which won the Komachiya Encouragement Award (Maritime Law Association of Japan). We recommend this book to all practitioners, researchers, and corporate legal departments involved in maritime law and international transactions related to the United States.
30 January 2025Michio Aoki contributed an article entitled “Maritime Law in the Reiwa Era No.34: Issues Concerning the Rights and Protection of Laying Submarine Cable” for the Japan Maritime Daily.
29 January 2025 Michio Aoki gave a course of lectures as a Shipping Business Training Course entitled “Basics of Special Charter Parties for Offshore Wind Supporting Vessels (3 sessions in total)” in the Japan Shipping Exchange, Inc. was held on 15, 22 and 29 January 2025. As in previous years, he received a lot of positive feedback from participants, such as “Even those who are new to the offshore wind power practice were able to easily understand his descriptions. I was very satisfied with attending this course”; “The materials were comprehensive, and his lectures were easy to understand”; and “This course was very helpful to improve my resolution of this sector as a whole, which was very useful.”. (Next year's course is scheduled for around September.)
18 December 2024The Japan Shipping Exchange, Inc. has opened its registration window for the Shipping Business Training Course entitled “Basics of Special Charter Parties for Offshore Wind Supporting Vessels (3 sessions in total)” which will be lectured by Michio Aoki.
17 December 2024We are pleased to announce that we have welcomed a new lawyer, Yuto Matsumura, to our firm. Mr. Matsumura has joined us after working at the Tokyo office of a leading international law firm for about eight years.
29 November 2024Michio Aoki contributed an article entitled “Maritime Law in the Reiwa Era No.33: the Enforcement of the Ship Recycling Convention is Approaching - Basics and Issues to Keep in Mind” for the Japan Maritime Daily.
25 November 2024Michio Aoki participated as a lecturer in “Tokio Marine & Nichido: Seminar on Offshore Wind-Related Vessels”, where he gave a lecture on “key points and notes of charter party forms for offshore wind-related vessels”.
1 November 2024Kenichiro Kurosawa contributed an article entitled “English - Japanese translation of BIMCO Quiet Enjoyment Letters (QELs)” for the Maritime Law Review of Japan (November 2024 issue), No.265, Page18.
27 September 2024Michio Aoki contributed an article entitled “Maritime Law in the Reiwa Era No.32: Expectations for the Implementation and Commercialisation of Large-Scale Liquefied CO2 Transport Vessels - together with Points to Note on Upcoming Charter Parties” for the Japan Maritime Daily.
4 September 2024Michio Aoki gave a presentation as a legal specialist at the Global Offshore Wind Summit-Japan.
3 to 4 September 2024 Our office exhibited at the Global Offshore Wind Summit-Japan, which was held in Sapporo.
1 August 2024Mitsuhiro Toda and Kenichiro Kurosawa jointly contributed an article entitled “Case Note: A lawsuit concerning an accident at a South Korean container terminal, in which the defendant was a company with its principal business office in Japan, was dismissed on the grounds that there were “special circumstances” as referred to in Article 3-9 of the Code of Civil Procedure” for the Maritime Law Review of Japan (August 2024 issue), No.264, Page26.
31 July 2024Michio Aoki contributed an article entitled “Maritime Law in the Reiwa Era No.31: The Latest Trends and Future Prospects for Floating Offshore Wind Power in Japan and the United States - Contract Structure and Points to Note and Agreement Structure for Floating Offshore Wind” for the Japan Maritime Daily.
18 July 2024Takeya Yamamoto's comment on the limitation of shipowner liability was published in the Japan Maritime Daily.
13 June 2024Michio Aoki gave a presentation entitled “Maritime Law for Tackling Unknown Challenges” at the Offshore Wind Student Day hosted by the World Forum Offshore Wind.
12 June 2024Michio Aoki participated in panel discussion entitled “Mitigating Project Risk (1) From the Perspective of Project Interface” at the WFO Asia Pacific Summit 2024 as a panellist.
31 May 2024Michio Aoki contributed an article entitled “Maritime Law in the Reiwa Era No.30: Acceleration of Initiatives for GX in Japan: The Legalisation of the Emissions Trading System and its Implication on Maritime Transportation” for the Japan Maritime Daily.
1 May 2024Kenichiro Kurosawa contributed an article entitled “Before considering frustration of time charterparties – The Hong Kong Fir revisited (6)” for the Maritime Law Review of Japan (May 2024 issue), No.263, Page9.
20 to 28 April 2024Michio Aoki participated in a study tour of offshore wind farms in France organised by the Japan Wind Power Association. He visited floating and fixed offshore wind farms in France, visited the wind turbine factories of GE and SGRE and attended the FOWT2024, an international conference on floating offshore wind turbines.
17 April 2024Michio Aoki participated as a lecturer in the webinar entitled “Maritime Academia” hosted by the Japan Maritime Daily.
28 March 2024Michio Aoki contributed an article entitled “Maritime Law in the Reiwa Era No.29: Forming Offshore Wind Power Projects in Japan and Expected Roles of Special Vessels - Together with the Key Points and Issues of the Revised Bill for the Development of Floating Structures in the EEZ” for the Japan Maritime Daily.
11 to 25 March 2024Michio Aoki gave a course of lectures as the Shipping Business Training Course No.33 entitled “Basics of Special Charter Parties on Offshore Wind Supporting Vessels (3 sessions in total)” for the Japan Shipping Exchange, Inc.
5 March 2024Kenichiro Kurosawa's comments on BIMCO Quiet Enjoyment Letters were published in the Japan Maritime Daily.