Miura & Partners (M&P) is set to open an office in Okinawa, marking a rare foray by a top Japanese international law firm into the prefecture.
The Tokyo-based firm says it will open in Naha, Okinawa's capital, on 5 January, extending its regional network to a fourth location alongside Nagoya, Hiroshima and Osaka, which opened in October last year.
The office will be led by associate Shun Watanabe, who is currently based in Tokyo. According to Asia Business Law Journal, it will have two lawyers.
Okinawa, Japan's southernmost prefecture, is best known as a tourist destination thanks to its archipelago of subtropical islands stretching towards Taiwan.
However, M&P pointed to its strategic location as a “gateway to Asia” with “one of the highest business start-up rates in Japan”. It also cited a 2025 Teikoku Databank survey that identified a large number of long-established businesses with generational succession issues, leading to demand for M&A, business restructuring and succession planning
“As business activities in Okinawa continue to diversify, companies increasingly face legal issues involving multiple practice areas and overlapping regulatory frameworks,” the firm added. “Accordingly, demand has grown for legal services that can provide integrated, one-stop support through a single point of contact.”
Currently, none of Japan’s Big Four law firms – Mori Hamada, Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu, Nishimura & Asahi and Anderson Mori & Tomotsune – list offices in the on their websites.
M&P was founded in Tokyo in 2019 by former Mori Hamada partner Ryota Miura and a team of lawyers. It has since grown to approximately 150 lawyers.
Its international network extends to Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh City, Manila, Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta in Southeast Asia, as well as San Francisco, Seattle and London.
The firm also announced plans in April 2025 to open an office in Hong Kong that summer, in what would be its first base in Greater China, although the launch has been delayed due to what it describes as “delays in the establishment procedures”.
The firm hired Junko Shiokawa as a partner from offshore firm Conyers Dill & Pearman to lead the new office alongside existing Miura partner Norika Yuasa, a key member of the firm’s China practice.
According to Asia Business Law Journal, the firm is planning to open an office in Plano, Texas, later this year.
Recent years have seen leading Japanese firms extend their international networks: last month, Nagashima Ohno announced plans to open an office in Silicon Valley, its second in the US after New York, while in March, Anderson Mori opened an associate office in Paris.
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