The Japanese office of the Firm, which has been present in Tokyo since 1999, is assisted and complemented by a dedicated Japan Desk in our Milan office. Through these two structures the firm provides comprehensive legal assistance to Japanese clients doing business in Italy and, vice-versa, to Italian, European, and non-EU clients with business in Japan.
The team has a working knowledge of Japanese and has an in-depth, specialized experience of legal and business relationships between Italy and Japan. It advises on all aspects of corporate and commercial law, with particular emphasis on cross-border investments (joint ventures, M&A, company start-ups, opening branches, etc.), and on all types of contracts.
Adriano Villa is the country partner for Japan and head of both the Japan Desk in Milano and the Tokyo Office (which he visits frequently). He has lived and worked as a lawyer in Japan for several years, and is – to date– the only Italian lawyer to have ever been admitted to the legal profession in the country as a foreign attorney (“Gaikokuho-jimubengoshi”).
LAWYERS
NEWS AND EVENTS
New promotion for Pavia e Ansaldo’s Japan Desk: Naoko Konishi appointed Counsel Milan, April 14, 2025 – The Pavia e Ansaldo International Law Firm announces the promotion to Counsel of Naoko Konishi. The lawyer works primarily at the Milan office as part of the Japan Desk, led by Adriano Villa. Naoko Konishi joined the firm in 2012 and is active in the Corporate and M&A department, advising Japanese and Italian companies on commercial and corporate law matters. She also has extensive experience in international succession cases. Pavia e Ansaldo thus consolidates its growth strategy with a focus…
Pavia e Ansaldo consolidates its international expertise: Professor Giorgio Fabio Colombo joins for the Japan Desk Milan, Dec. 2, 2024 – The international law firm Pavia e Ansaldo announces the joining of Giorgio Fabio Colombo as Of Counsel. Professor Colombo will strengthen the Japan desk, led by Partner Adriano Villa, and will join the Litigation and Arbitration Department, working in the Milan and Tokyo offices. After a long experience in Japan, where he was full professor of comparative law and arbitration at Nagoya University, Giorgio Fabio Colombo is now permanently in Italy as full professor of comparative law…
Bon Odori Festival 2023 C’eravamo anche noi con Naoko Konishi del Japanese Desk al ‘Bon Odori Festival 2023’! L’evento, che ha celebrato l’amicizia tra Italia e Giappone, è stato un’occasione di rafforzamento delle relazioni tra i due Paesi e ha consentito al pubblico di immergersi nelle tradizioni della Terra del Sol Levante. Per maggiori informazioni SempioneNews LegnanoNews
Pavia e Ansaldo increases its international reach Sveva Antonini joins the Japan Desk Milan, 20 March, 2023 – The international law firm Pavia e Ansaldo announces the arrival of the lawyer Sveva Antonini as Of Counsel. Ms Antonini will strengthen the Japan desk, led by country Partner Adriano Villa, and will join the Industrial and Intellectual Property department, working in the Milan and Tokyo offices. The firm continues with its strategy of expanding its foreign desks and enriching its range of skills in the intellectual property department with the addition of a professional with extensive international experience. …
First Japanese law textbook in Italian Together with other Italian and Japanese academics, PeA’s Of Counsel Michela Riminucci has recently co-authored the first comprehensive textbook on Japanese law written in Italian, published in 2021 by Giappichelli, a renowned legal publisher in Italy. For more information and an excerpt, please visit this page Link Web
Pavia e Ansaldo Tokyo Office 20th Anniversary Per maggiori informazioni: event@pavia-ansaldo.it
L’accordo di partenariato economico tra Unione Europea e Giappone Milano, 11 febbraio 2019 Entrata in vigore dell’Accordo Il 21 dicembre scorso il Consiglio dell’Unione Europea ha dato il via libera definitivo all’accordo di libero scambio tra Europa e Giappone, firmato a Tokyo il 17 luglio 2018 ed entrato ufficialmente in vigore dal 1° febbraio 2019. Il trattato coinvolgerà circa 600 milioni di persone ed interesserà il 40% degli scambi commerciali globali, tra due aree geografiche che da sole rappresentano un terzo del PIL mondiale. Dazi doganali e misure tariffarie L’accordo inciderà sia sulle misure tariffarie, attraverso il progressivo abbassamento dei dazi…
European Commission: the European Union and Japan have successfully concluded their talks on mutual adequacy and agreed to recognize each other’s data protection systems as “equivalent”. Milan, 20 July 2018 – On 17 July 2018, the European Commission announced that the European Union and Japan, in connection with the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), have successfully concluded their talks on mutual adequacy and agreed to recognize each other’s data protection systems as “equivalent”. In the future, data will therefore be allowed to flow safely between the EU – where the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has entered into force on 25 May 2018 –…
Pavia e Ansaldo strengthens its presence in Japan with a new entry The only Italian law firm with a local office in Japan has twenty years of experience in the Country and can count on a team of professionals with a profound knowledge of the legal and cultural systems of Japan and Italy Milan, 28 Febrauary 2018 – Pavia e Ansaldo further strengthens its presence in Japan with the entry of Prof. Michela Riminucci, as Of Counsel, who will join the Japan Desk, founded by Adriano Villa. Pavia e Ansaldo “Gaikokuho-jimu-bengoshi-jimusho” – this is the exact name of the firm in Japanese – has…
150 YEARS OF FRIENDSHIP AND COMMERCE BUSINESS LAW IN ITALY AND JAPAN BETWEEN PAST AND PRESENT (ROME)
150 YEARS OF FRIENDSHIP AND COMMERCE BUSINESS LAW IN ITALY AND JAPAN BETWEEN PAST AND PRESENT (MILAN)
150 YEARS OF FRIENDSHIP AND COMMERCE – BUSINESS LAW IN ITALY AND JAPAN BETWEEN PAST AND PRESENT
PAVIA e ANSALDO IN TOKYO FOR THE SEMINAR “150 YEARS OF FRIENDSHIP AND COMMERCE: COMMERCIAL LAW IN ITALY AND JAPAN, PAST AND PRESENT” ORGANIZED WITH THE PATRONAGE OF THE ITALIAN EMBASSY AND THE INSTITUTE OF ITALIAN CULTURE IN TOKYO The event took place at the Umberto Agnelli Auditorium of the Italian Institute of Culture in Tokyo On the occasion of the celebration of the 150 year anniversary of the Treaty of Friendship and Commerce between Italy and Japan, law firm Pavia e Ansaldo organized with the Italian Institute of Culture and the Italian-Japanese Association of Comparative Law (AIGDC), a seminar…
