Kensuke co-leads Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu’s Life Sciences & Health Care practice and has been recognized for his expertise in this area by Chambers Asia-Pacific (Band 1 rating for Life Sciences) and by Who’s Who Legal (“Recommended” ranking for Life Sciences). He is described as “a distinguished practitioner who is ‘renowned in the market’ for his expertise in transactional matters in the healthcare sector” (Who’s Who Legal) and as “one of the pillars of the firm’s transactional and regulatory life sciences offering, and […] highly regarded in the market.” (Chambers Asia-Pacific).
Kensuke advises clients in the life sciences and healthcare sector on a range of matters including pharmaceutical and biotechnology regulations and compliance issues, medical devices, digital health, approval processes for drugs and biologics, medical data, clinical trials, food and beverage regulations, product recalls, regulatory inspections, crisis management and investigations, and other healthcare-related business matters. He also advises life sciences clients on mergers and acquisitions, alliances, business startups, financing, licensing and other commercial transactions.
In addition to his life sciences and healthcare practice, Kensuke also regularly advises on financial regulations (including securities, asset management and investment fund regulations), fund formation and management, and has been recognized as a leading practitioner in this area by Chambers Asia-Pacific. In the 2023 edition of “The Best Lawyers in Japan,” Kensuke was selected as Lawyer of the Year in the area of Investment and Investment Funds. His other practice areas include general corporate, private equity/venture capital and startups, technology and data protection.
Kensuke served as a Special Advisor at the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare of Japan from 2014 to 2015, and as a member of the Project Team on Healthcare Startup Acceleration at the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (2024).
Kensuke was a Deputy Director of the Financial Services Agency of Japan from 2007 to 2009 where he worked on various Japanese financial regulatory reforms and has also spent time as a visiting attorney at Kirkland & Ellis’s Chicago office. He was educated at Stanford Law School and the University of Tokyo. He is fluent in English.