Takafumi Ochiai
Head of Policy Research Institution, Senior Partner, Atsumi & Sakai
Vice-Chair, Fintech Association of Japan
After graduate of the Department of Science and Technology, Mathematics at Keio University, Takafumi passed the bar examination while studying at the Graduate School of Science and Technology. He worked for about nine years at Mori Hamada & Matsumoto’s Tokyo and Beijing offices, handling international disputes, bankruptcy cases, intellectual property, and overseas investments, among other matters. Since joining Atsumi & Sakai, his current firm, he has been active in providing business advice and in the establishment of new systems in industries such as finance, healthcare, real estate, MaaS, and IT. He has held various positions in industry, government, and academia, including serving as an advisor on international financial cities for the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, Osaka Prefecture and City, and Fukuoka Prefecture, a vice chair of the Japan Financial Services Intermediary Business Association, a self-regulatory organization, and as a part-time lecturer at the University of Tokyo Faculty of Law. At his current place of employment, he has established the Policy Research Institute and serves as the chair, and he is also the co-founder and representative director of Smart Governance Inc. He has received awards such as the FT Innovative Lawyers Asia-Pacific Awards 2023 Innovation in Adjacent Services (Firm) and 30 Rule Makers in Japan (Forbes JAPAN, August 2022).