March 25, 2026
Japan Fair Trade Commission
Appointment of Two JFTC Commissioners
Today, I would like to talk about the appointment of JFTC Commissioners, which requires the consent of both Houses of the National Diet.
The JFTC consists of a Chair and four Commissioners. Commissioner Akiko Mimura retired on February 21, 2026, and Commissioner Reiko Aoki is also scheduled to retire on April 1, 2026.
As for the Diet’s consent to the appointment of successors to the two Commissioners, nominations were submitted to the Diet to appoint Ms. Kazuko Yao, former President of the Fukuoka High Court, and Ms. Arisa Wakabayashi, Professor at the Graduate Division of Legal Research and Training (Komazawa University Law School), as Commissioners. The House of Representatives gave its unanimous consent on March 19, and the House of Councillors did the same on March 23. Following this, Ms. Kazuko Yao was appointed as a JFTC Commissioner on Tuesday, March 24. As for Ms. Arisa Wakabayashi, she is scheduled to be appointed on or after April 2, following Commissioner Aoki’s retirement on April 1.
Ms. Kazuko Yao has served in the judiciary as a judge for many years. She has held a number of senior positions, including Chief Judge of the Chiba Family Court, Judge of the Tokyo High Court, President of the Legal Training and Research Institute, and President of the Fukuoka High Court. She has extensive expertise and experience in the judicial field, as well as outstanding insight and judgment.
Ms. Arisa Wakabayashi has specialized for many years in economic law, particularly the Antimonopoly Act. In addition to serving as a Professor at the Graduate Division of Legal Research and Training (Komazawa University Law School), she also serves as an executive board member of the Japan Association of Economic Law. She has highly specialized knowledge of economic law centered on the Antimonopoly Act, as well as competition policy across a wide range of fields in Japan and abroad. She has also been a member of the JFTC’s Antimonopoly Meeting since 2025.
We expect both to make significant contributions to the JFTC’s strict and proper enforcement of the Antimonopoly Act and other relevant laws, as well as to the further promotion of competition policy, by drawing on their expertise in their respective fields.
（Tentative translation）
