Japanese law firm Atsumi & Sakai has added partners Go Fujimoto (L)  and Kenta Nobe to its Tokyo-based corporate practice, making it five lateral hires to its partnership in its headquarters this year.

Atsumi, Japan’s sixth-largest law firm, added transactions lawyer Aoi Koyanagi from White & Case as a partner in July, finance partner Taku Sonoura from rival firm Nishimura & Asahi in March, and corporate in-house pro, Fumiyo Doi, from GE Healthcare in February.

The firm also added three partners in Tokyo last year to expand its data protection, risk advisory and ESG offerings.

Fujimoto, who joins Atsumi as a senior partner, was previously a corporate partner at Oh-Ebashi LPC & Partners. He rejoins Atsumi, having previously spent five years at the firm from 2017 to 2022. Fujimoto specialises in general corporate compliance, corporate governance, and data protection law.

Nobe was previously an attorney at global law firm Baker McKenzie’s Japan outpost and specialises in labour and employment law and corporate governance, focusing on sports law.

Atsumi also saw the departure of two senior partners in January. Corporate specialist Go Hashimoto moved to Oh-Ebashi as a foreign law partner and litigator Yoko Atsumi left to start her own firm, Atsumi Law Office.