Firm Overview
| Address | Toranomon Alcea Tower, 3rd floor 2-2-3 Toranomon, Minato-ku, Tokyo 105-0001 JAPAN |
|---|---|
| Tel | +81 3 6823 5318 |
| info@hirayamalaw.com |
Profile – Kentaro Hirayama
Kentaro Hirayama’s practice focuses on competition law. He has counselled clients in a number of domestic and international cartels, unfair trade practices such as MFN clauses, predatory pricing and abuse of standard essential patents, and merger filings including high-profile phase II cases.
His skill and experience in competition and antitrust law is widely recognised, and in 2016 he was the only Japanese attorney named in Global Competition Review’s “40 Under 40” list of the world’s leading antitrust lawyers under the age of 40.
Mr Hirayama worked for the Japan Fair Trade Commission from July 2007 to June 2010, during which time he was a case manager in the Marine Hose case, among other high-profile international cartel cases, and led an abuse of dominance case. During these worldwide parallel investigations, he collaborated with foreign competition authorities in engagements such as information exchanges and coordination of simultaneous dawn raids, among others.
Following his return to private practice, he serves as an associate professor at Kyushu University, one of Japan’s oldest national universities, and is a member of the Japan Bar Association’s antitrust committee.
Newsletter
2026
（To download the PDF version of the full newsletter, please click “View original.”）
▼【2 July】JFTC Strengthens Exploitative Abuse Regulation of IP and Data: New Guidelines Place Contract-Negotiation Practices Under Closer Scrutiny
▼【22 June】JFTC Strengthens Abuse of Superior Bargaining Position Regulation: Revised Guidelines Place Contract-Negotiation Process Under Closer Scrutiny
▼【16 June】JFTC Dawn Raids Nine Track Contractors and the JRTT: Suspected Bid-Rigging in the Hokkaido Shinkansen Extension
▼【8 June】JFTC Publishes Generative AI Market Report Version 2.0: Bundling and OS-Level Access Restrictions Take Centre Stage
▼【8 June】JFTC Publishes Generative AI Market Report Version 2.0: Bundling and OS-Level Access Restrictions Take Centre Stage
▼【26 May】JFTC Files Its First Criminal Cartel Accusation in Three Years, Signalling a More Active Approach to Hardcore Cartel Enforcement
▼【24 April】Middle East Geopolitical Risk and Petrochemical Supply Concerns Draw Fresh Attention to the 2025 Economic Security Casebook by the JFTC and other Governmental Bodies
▼【16 April】JFTC Reaffirms Three-Pillar Strategy for Innovation-Oriented Competition Policy
▼【23 March】JFTC Announces Strengthened Enforcement Against Exploitative Abuse of Intellectual Property Rights
▼【5 March】JFTC Investigates Microsoft over Tying-like Unfair Trade Practices
▼【24 February】Japan Fair Trade Commission: 2025 Year in Review
▼【10 February】Japan Introduces Global SEP Mediation System – Japan’s Court-Led Expert Mediation for Standard Essential Patents –
▼【22 January】Japanese Court Establishes SEP Litigation Guidelines – Japan’s Ambition to Position Itself as Global SEP Dispute Resolution Forum –
▼【12 January】Japan FTC Launches Sector Inquiry into Generative AI Search Services
▼【2 January】Japan’s Smartphone Act Implemented and Targets Apple and Google’s App Store Business
▼【2 January】JFTC Chairman Declares Commitment to Rigorous Enforcement of the Antitrust Act