Luxury, Fashion & Lifestyle Brand

Japan is one of the world's three largest luxury markets — and one of its most legally complex. Brands entering or expanding in Japan face a distinctive environment: a sophisticated consumer base with high expectations of authenticity; a robust IP enforcement regime with Japan-specific procedures; a distribution structure built on long-term agency and selective channel relationships; and a regulatory framework governing advertising, product claims, and e-commerce that differs materially from European and US norms.

Atsumi & Sakai's Luxury, Fashion & Lifestyle Brand Practice Group advises international brands on every aspect of their Japan operations, and Japanese brands on their international expansion. Our team combines specialist legal knowledge with genuine sector experience across fashion, jewellery, cosmetics, wellness, watches, and luxury hospitality.

Who We Are

Our practice group is led by lawyers with dual international qualifications and direct experience advising premium and luxury brands in Japanese domestic and cross-border contexts. We work across the full brand lifecycle — from market entry structuring and IP registration through to enforcement, dispute resolution, and M&A.

We are familiar with the dynamics of Japan's luxury market: its gatekeeping distribution structures, the dominance of department store relationships, the influence of brand heritage on consumer perception, and the growing significance of the pre-owned and resale sector.

Where European or international counsel are already engaged, we integrate as Japan-qualified co-counsel — a model familiar to the leading global luxury houses that rely on specialist local firms alongside their primary relationship firm.

Key Experience

Intellectual Property & Brand Protection: Japan's IP framework for luxury brands requires specialist navigation. We advise on trademark prosecution and portfolio management across Japan and major Asian jurisdictions, copyright protection for design-driven products, and enforcement under the Unfair Competition Prevention Act — including trade dress protection, parallel import controls, and anti-counterfeiting. We coordinate customs seizure applications, civil proceedings, and criminal referrals as part of multi-layered enforcement strategies.
Anti-Counterfeiting & Grey Market Control: Japan is both a target market and a transit jurisdiction for counterfeit and grey market luxury goods. We design and implement border enforcement programmes through Japan Customs, coordinate with brand protection investigators, and pursue civil and criminal remedies. We advise on selective distribution structures designed to legally restrict parallel imports under applicable competition law principles.
Market Entry & Distribution Structures: Entering the Japanese luxury market requires careful structuring of distribution arrangements — whether through direct retail, selective distribution, consignment, agency, or franchise models. We advise on the legal and commercial implications of each, negotiate master distribution and agency agreements, and assist brands in managing the transition from indirect to direct distribution as their Japan presence grows.
Retail & E-Commerce: We advise on commercial lease negotiations for flagship and pop-up retail locations, including the specific dynamics of Japanese department store concession and tenancy arrangements. For online retail, we assist with platform compliance, data privacy under the Act on the Protection of Personal Information, Act on Specified Commercial Transactions compliance, and advertising regulations under the Act against Unjustifiable Premiums and Misleading Representations.
Influencer Marketing & Advertising: Japan's influencer marketing landscape is governed by talent management structures that differ significantly from Western markets. We advise on talent engagement agreements, social media campaign terms, disclosure obligations under Japanese advertising regulations, and sponsorship arrangements. We also assist with regulatory compliance for advertising claims — particularly in the cosmetics, wellness, and beauty sectors where therapeutic and efficacy claims are tightly controlled.
Licensing & Collaborations: We structure and negotiate licensing agreements for apparel, accessories, fragrances, cosmetics, and other branded lifestyle products — including Japan-specific quality control mechanisms, royalty structures, and termination provisions designed to protect brand integrity. We also advise on co-branding and collaborative arrangements, including the fashion-art and fashion-culture crossover projects that are a prominent feature of the Japan market.
Pre-Owned & Resale Market: Japan has one of the world's most developed luxury resale markets. We advise brands on strategies to engage with — or legally manage — the pre-owned ecosystem, including authentication programme structures, platform disputes, compliance for second-hand dealers under the Secondhand Goods Business Act, and brand protection considerations in the resale space.
ESG & Sustainability Compliance: International luxury brands operating in Japan face increasing pressure to align sustainability claims with both their home jurisdiction requirements and Japanese regulatory expectations. We advise on compliance with Japan's consumer protection framework as it applies to environmental and sustainability claims, supply chain transparency requirements, and the legal aspects of circular fashion and product take-back programmes.
Corporate Transactions & Governance: We advise on mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures, and investments involving luxury and lifestyle brands — including inbound acquisition of Japanese brands and the establishment of Japan entities by foreign luxury groups. We are experienced in the IP ownership, franchise and licence chain, key management retention, and reputational risk considerations specific to brand-driven businesses.
Luxury Hospitality & Branded Residences: We advise on hotel management agreements, franchise structures, branding agreements, and branded residence developments in the luxury and ultra-luxury segment — for both international groups entering Japan and Japanese developers partnering with global brands. We also assist with luxury hotel and hospitality asset investments and disposals.

Our Approach

Japan as the Differentiator

Many international luxury law practices offer global coverage. Few offer genuine Japan-qualified legal advice combined with an on-the-ground understanding of Japan's luxury market developed through years of advising brands in this sector. Japan's legal and commercial environment is not simply a variant of European or US practice — it requires Japan-specific expertise. We provide that, with the ability to interface directly with international co-counsel when cross-border coordination is required.

Commercially Integrated Advice

Luxury brand legal work requires an understanding of brand equity, creative direction, and commercial positioning — not simply legal compliance. Our team engages at a commercial as well as legal level, ensuring that our advice supports rather than constrains brand strategy.

Multidisciplinary Coordination

Our practice group draws on the full resources of Atsumi & Sakai across Tax, Dispute Resolution, Real Estate, Employment, and Corporate practice areas. Where a matter requires a coordinated cross-functional response — as frequently arises in enforcement campaigns, market entry projects, and M&A transactions — we assemble the right team from within the firm and from our international network.

Representative Services

Trademark portfolio management — Japan and pan-Asian filings, prosecution, renewal, and watching services
Anti-counterfeiting — customs seizure programmes, civil enforcement, criminal referrals, platform takedowns
Grey market and parallel import controls — selective distribution structuring and enforcement
Distribution and agency agreements — negotiation and drafting for Japanese market entry and expansion
Department store and flagship retail leasing — Japanese commercial lease and concession arrangements
E-commerce platform compliance — domestic platform regulatory requirements and data privacy
Influencer and talent agreements — engagement terms, disclosure compliance, campaign documentation
Brand licensing — Japan-specific licence drafting, quality control, and licensee management
Pre-owned luxury market — authentication programme structuring, platform disputes, second-hand dealer regulation
ESG and sustainability claims — compliance for product marketing and supply chain representations
M&A and joint ventures — acquisition of Japanese brands, inbound luxury group investments, JV structuring
Luxury hospitality — hotel management agreements, branded residence projects, asset investments
IP due diligence — brand asset reviews in connection with acquisition or investment transactions

Why Choose our lawyers

Japan-Qualified with International Perspective

Atsumi & Sakai is distinctive among Tokyo-based law firms in the depth of its international legal talent. Our practice group includes registered foreign lawyers (gaikokuho jimu bengoshi) qualified across multiple jurisdictions — including Europe, the United States, Australia, and Asia — who practise alongside their Japanese-qualified colleagues as a genuinely integrated team. This is not a liaison arrangement: our foreign-qualified lawyers work directly on client matters, bring jurisdictional expertise that is relevant from day one, and advise international clients in their own language and legal framework. For luxury and fashion brands headquartered in France, Italy, the United Kingdom, or the United States, this means your Japan counsel understands not only Japanese law but the legal context from which your instructions originate. It is a combination that very few Tokyo firms can offer, and it is particularly valuable in a sector where legal strategy, brand positioning, and commercial decision-making cross jurisdictional lines as a matter of course.

Sector Knowledge, Not Generic Advice

We understand the dynamics of Japan's luxury sector: the role of department stores as gatekeepers, the structure of talent agency relationships, the significance of brand heritage in Japanese consumer perception, and the specific regulatory frameworks governing advertising, product claims, and IP enforcement. Our advice is calibrated to that environment.

A Full-Service Platform

Luxury brand legal work spans IP, corporate, real estate, employment, tax, and dispute resolution. We provide all of these from a single platform, without the coordination overhead and cost of engaging multiple specialist firms.

Trusted by Leading Brands

Our clients include international luxury fashion houses, cosmetics and beauty groups, jewellers, watch brands, wellness companies, and luxury hospitality operators — both those entering Japan and established Japanese brands expanding internationally.