Attorneys’ Profiles | Tokyo Heritage Law Firm

Overview Publications and Speaking Engagements

Overview

Tomoko Nakada, attorney-at-law, licensed in Japan and New York, focuses her practice on international estate planning and estate settlement.

Ms. Nakada has been chosen as an International Fellow of the prestigious American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC) since 2015, an honor bestowed only on very few prominent attorneys, and is a member of its International Estate Planning Committee. Ms. Nakada has been selected as Academician of the International Academy of Estate and Trust Law (TIAETL) since 2017 as well.

Ms. Nakada regularly lectures before groups of attorneys in the United States on US-Japanese inheritance law or tax matters in English and before bank wealth management departments in Japan.

Ms. Nakada has co-authored a well-received domestic book titled “INTERNATIONAL ESTATE PLANNING AND ESTATE SETTLEMENT” and is well-known nationally as an expert in this area. She has authored articles on Japanese inheritance tax and Japan estate planning in English.

Ms. Nakada graduated with an LL.M. degree from the New York University School of Law in 2002, prior to working as a visiting researcher at Harvard Law School.

Ms. Nakada began her legal career in Japan in 1997 as a Tokyo District Court judge, a member of the three judge panel, a special honor for a junior lawyer.

Areas of Practice

International Estate Planning and Estate Settlement

Admissions

June 2000	Japan (Dai-ni Tokyo Bar Association)
August 2002	New York

Professional Experience

December 2020	Founder, Tokyo Heritage Law Firm
June 2000 - December 2020	Attorney-at-law, Takahashi Norikatsu Law Office(currently, Hokusei Law Office, P.C.)
September 2001 - May 2002	Visiting Research Fellow, Harvard Law School
April 1997 - June 2000	Judge, a member of the three judge panel, Tokyo District Court
April 1995 - April 1997	Legal Training and Research Institute (The 49th class of the judicial apprentice)

Professional Activities

April 2017 - present	Academician, The International Academy of Estate and Trust Law(TIAETL)
March 2015 - present	International Fellow, The American College of Trust and Estate Counsel(ACTEC)

Education

September 2017	Completed degree in tax laws of the programs for development of specialized attorneys at Keio University Law School.
May 2001	New York University School of Law (LL.M.)
March 1995	The University of Tokyo (LL.B.)

Affiliation

Japan Federation of Bar Associations

Dai-ni Tokyo Bar Association

Japan Association of the Law of Trust

The American College of Trust and Estate Counsel(ACTEC)

The International Academy of Estate and Trust Law(TIAETL)

American Bar Association

New York Bar Association

Publications and Speaking Engagements

Podcast

"U.S.-Japan Estates, Inheritance and Gift Tax Treaty, " June 25, 2019, ACTEC Trust and Estate Talk Podcast.
To listen the podcast, click here.

Publications

1.Publications in English

Japan, Private Client (Global Legal Post 2023).
To read the article, click here. (PDF)

"Trust Museum, Tokyo, " Sep. 2019 of The International Family Offices Journal.
To read the article, click here. (PDF)

Note that this article is based on tax laws as of 2018.
These tax laws were amended in 2021.
To read the update including on the 2021 tax reform, click here. (PDF)

Tomoko Nakada, Japan: Estate Planning Summary in INTERNATIONAL ESTATE PLANNING: A REFERENCE GUIDE, SECOND EDITION, at JAP-1 to JAP-13 (Juris Publishing 2020).
To read the article, click here. (PDF)

"Japanese Inheritance and Gift Tax Reform, " Nov. 2017 of Trusts & Estates.
To read the article, click here. (PDF)

Note that this article is based on tax laws as of 2017.
These tax laws were amended in 2021.
To read the update including on the 2021 tax reform, click here. (PDF)

"Culture and Succession Law in Japan, " ABA Section of International Law, International Private Client Committee (IPCC) Newsletter (Fall/Winter 2016), which summarizes the content of the speech made at the ABA-SIL Tokyo Fall meeting.
To read the article, click here. (PDF)

"Navigating United States - Japan Estate Planning: How to help your clients avoid unpleasant surprises, " Nov. 2013 of Trusts & Estates, (co-authored)
To read the article, click here. (PDF)

2.Publications in Japanese

"INTERNATIONAL INHERITANCE GUIDEBOOK THIRD EDITION" (Kinzai Institute For Financial Affairs, Inc, 2021) (co-edited)

"Revised Inheritance Law and Its Impact on the Inheritance Related Business of the Japanese Trust Banks, " the Trust Companies Association of Japan, No.280 (November, 2019)

"How to Write the Duration of Spouse's Residential Right in the Will, " Kinyu Homu Jijo (Financial Law Journal), No.2126 (November 25, 2019)

"Welcoming Trust and Estate Attorneys to Japan! A report of providing warm hospitality, " Kinyu Homu Jijo (Financial Law Journal), No.2183 (July 25, 2019)

"Risks of Forced Heirship Claims in Transfer of Intestacy Share, " Kinyu Zaisei Jijo (The Financial Economist), No.3288 (December 10, 2018)

"Impact of Inheritance Law Reform on Financial Planning, " KINZAI Financial Plan, No.403 (September, 2018)

"Drafting and Execution of Will after the Inheritance Law Reform, " Kinyu Homu Jijo (Financial Law Journal), No.2089 (May 10, 2018)

"INTERNATIONAL ESTATE PLANNING AND ESTATE SETTLEMENT" (Zeimukeiri Kyokai Co., LTD., 2017) (co-authored)

"INTERNATIONAL INHERITANCE GUIDEBOOK REVISED EDITION" (Kinzai Institute For Financial Affairs, Inc, 2017) (co-edited)

"14. (Object) Temporary Injunction against the Beneficial Rights in Trusts" of "Outline of the Latest Litigation Practices (3) Civil Preservation"(Seirin Shoin, 2016)

"Laws and Practices concerning Succession of U.S. Bank Accounts ~Development of Will Substitutes~ , " Kinyu Homu Jijo (Financial Law Journal), No.2030 (2015)

"INTERNATIONAL INHERITANCE GUIDEBOOK" (Kinzai Institute For Financial Affairs, Inc, 2013) (co-edited)

"DYING WITH A BAD WILL CAN BE AS TROUBLESOME AS DYING WITHOUT A WILL" (Kinzai Institute For Financial Affairs, Inc, 2012) (co-authored)

"Practical Tips for Collecting Debts from Failed Trading Companies through Exercising Lien for Movable Transactions, " New Business Law (or NBL), Vol. 915 (2009)

"Relationship between Requirements for Applying Article 38, paragraphs 1 & 2 of the Trademark Law and Right to Claim Damages among Multiple Infringers, " Patent, Vol. 57, No.11 (2004)

"Subject Matter Jurisdiction/Response Jurisdiction/Agreed Jurisdiction and Preservation Cases, " of "Outline of New Litigation Practices (13) Civil Preservation Act" (Seirin Shoin, 2002)

Lecture

1.Lectures in English

"A Century of Trust Law in Asia and in North America" as a panelist (on November 7, 2019), and "Asian/North American Estate Planning for the Coming Decade" as a co-chair with Glenn Fox, Esq. (on November 8, 2019), at Global Conference 2019 of New York State Bar Association, International Section in Tokyo, Japan.

"U.S.-Japan Estates, Inheritance and Gift Tax Treaty, " at the International Estate Planning Committee, the ACTEC 2019 Annual Meeting in La Quinta, California (on March 23, 2019)

"Hawaii-Japan Estate Planning after Japan Inheritance/Gift Tax Reform in 2017, " at 7th Annual Hawaii ACTEC Fellows Planning Conference in Hawaii, U.S.A. (on August 25, 2017)(PDF)

"Japanese Tax Reform in 2017 -Change of Taxpayer with regard to Non-Japanese Situs Assets, " at the International Estate Planning Committee at the ACTEC 2017 Annual Meeting in Scottsdale, Arizona (on March 11, 2017)

"Differences of Culture and Family Dynamics: Consequences for International Succession and Estate Planning, " chaired by Jean-Louis Collart, Esq., a partner of Mentha Avocats in Geneva, Switzerland, and moderated by John Strohmeyer, Esq., an associate of Crady, Jewett & McCulley LLP in Houston, TX, at Section of International Law 2016 Fall Meeting of the American Bar Association in Tokyo, Japan (on October 20, 2016)

"Cross-border philanthropy and cross-border investments by, and activities of, philanthropic institutions , " co-chaired by Inbal Faibish Wassmer, Esq., a partner of ROSAK Rosenberg Abramovich Keren-Polak & Co Adv in Tel Aviv, Israel and Zurich, Switzerland, and Stephan Neidhardt, Esq., a partner of Walder Wyss Ltd in Zurich, Switzerland, at the Annual Conference of the International Bar Association - 2015 Vienna, Austria (on October 7, 2015)

"Select International Estate Planning Issues in Japan, " at the International Estate Planning Committee at the ACTEC 2015 Summer Meeting in Quebec, Canada (on June 20, 2015)

"‘Til the sooner of death and divorce do us part: the use of trusts, marital agreements and other structures in the protection of wealth upon the termination of marriage, " co-chaired by Mark Osborne, Esq., a partner of Osborne Helman Knebel & Deleery LLP in Austin, and Joshua Rubenstein, Esq., a partner of Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP in New York, at the Annual Conference of the International Bar Association - 2014 Tokyo (on October 21, 2014)

Lectured as a panelist on U.S.-Japan cross border estate-planning at the 6th Annual Pacific Lim Conference of the STEP (the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners) in May 2013, together with Akane R. Suzuki, Esq., a partner of Garvey Schubert Barer in Seattle.

2.Lectures in Japanese

Revised Inheritance Law and Its Impact on the Inheritance Related Business of the Japanese Trust Banks (Sponsored by the Trust Companies Association of Japan, October 4, 2019)

International Estate Planning for Clients Who Have Overseas Assets (Sponsored by The Securities Analysts Association of Japan, March 15, 2019)

Practical tips on drafting a good will enabling smooth succession (Sponsored by Kanagawa Shiho-Shoshi's (judicial scrivener’s) Associations of Japan, December 12, 2014)

Practical tips on 1) drafting a good will enabling smooth succession and 2) the intestate inheritance procedure (Sponsored by Kanagawa Branch of TKC, a nationwide organization of more than 10, 000 Japanese tax counsel's , December 10, 2014).

Lectured on international (U.S.-Japan) estate planning named "Practical Tips for Lawyers and Accountants Handling International Estate Planning" at the Study Group of International Tax (on June 21, 2014).

March 1966	The University of Tokyo (LL.B.)
April 1969	Legal Training and Research Institute (The 23rd class of the judicial apprentice)

March 1984 - December 2020	Founder, Takahashi Norikatsu Law Office (currently, Hokusei Law office, P.C.)
April 1998 - April 2008	Audit and Supervisory Board Member, Trust Companies Association of Japan
June 2003 - June 2011	Audit and Supervisory Board Member, ACOM Co., Ltd.
December 2020	Tokyo Heritage Law Firm

Lawyers

Tomoko Nakada

Publications

Lecture

Norikatsu Takahashi