TMI Associates counsel Toshiharu Furukawa has been appointed as Japan’s Minister for Digital Transformation in Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s second reshuffled cabinet, formed on 17 September.
Furukawa will also serve as Minister in Charge of AI and Digital Reform Promotion, Cybersecurity and Content Strategy, and Minister of State for Special Missions covering Intellectual Property Strategy, Science and Technology Policy, Space Policy, Artificial Intelligence Strategy, Ocean Policy and Cybersecurity.
He will take a leave of absence from TMI Associates for the duration of his government service.
“We are truly delighted and proud that he will now take on the extremely important responsibilities of a minister of state,” TMI Associates managing partner Katsuro Tanaka told Asia Business Law Journal.
Furukawa, who joined the firm in 1999 and became counsel in 2015, is also a medical doctor. His legal practice covers areas including healthcare, pharmaceutical affairs, environmental matters and bioscience patents.
He entered national politics after being elected as a senator in July 2007 and chaired the Senate Committee on Financial Affairs from 2014 to 2016.
“The areas that Furukawa will be responsible for – digital reform, AI, cybersecurity, content strategy, intellectual property, science and technology, space, ocean policy and more – are all extremely important when considering Japan’s international competitiveness, economic growth and, moreover, its security in the years ahead,” said Tanaka.
Tanaka said Furukawa was “a rare individual with a deep understanding of both medicine and law” and hoped he would draw on these areas of expertise to propel Japan forward during his time in government.
“I hope he will make full use of his scientific perspective as a doctor and scientist, his legal perspective as a lawyer and the policy perspective he has cultivated through many years of experience in national politics to vigorously advance forward-looking policies without being bound by the frameworks of existing ministries and systems,” Tanaka said.
