Takashi Takano

He is a graduate of Waseda University Faculty of Law and Southern Methodist University Law School (LL.M.).[2]

As described below, he is well known as a lawyer in criminal cases. He studied abroad in America in his younger years, learned about the Constitution, the Code of Criminal Procedure, the Rules of Evidence, etc., and is fluent in English conversation. In recent years, he has also been actively involved in training activities for defence techniques targeted at younger lawyers because of his leadership role.

On the occasion of Defendant Ghosn's bail request, he had obtained the Tokyo District Court's bail decision with methods such as presenting specific conditions such as the installation of surveillance cameras in his house.[3]

On his own blog about Carlos Ghosn’s secret departure from Japan, he wrote, “(Japanese) judges are not independent judicial officers. They are part of the bureaucratic organization. The Japanese media is nothing more than a public relations agency for the Public Prosecutors Office,” and “(Defendant Ghosn's secret departure from the country) means that I cannot completely deny it by calling his secret departure from the country ‘an outrage’, ‘a betrayal’ or ‘a crime’. It is a sad and disappointing conclusion. There should be a more different conclusion. I certainly was betrayed. However, it is not Carlos Ghosn who betrayed me,”[4][5] and furthermore, he stated, “It is not difficult to imagine that if it is true that people who have the same wealth, personal connections and drive as him had the same experience, they would probably try to do the same thing.” With regard to these statements, a request for disciplinary action was filed from a man in Tokyo Metropolis to the Daini Tokyo Bar Association alleging things like “It’s serious misconduct that he blogged statements affirming the defendant’s escape,” and the same association's Disciplinary Enforcement Committee launched an investigation.

In the field of criminal defence, he is widely recognized as one of “the top three criminal defence lawyers” along with Hiroshi Kamiyama and Sadato Gotō.[6] Especially among the three men, Takano is also putting effort into education in the legal profession besides professional criminal defence, and has been teaching at Waseda University, Graduate School of Law since its establishment.

• Honjō Insurance Money Murder Case
• Aum Shinrikyo Incidents – Katsuya Takahashi First Trial[7]
  • Company Employee VX Murder Case
  • Aum Victims' Association Chairman VC Attack Case
  • Notary Public Office Office Manager Arrest and Confinement Causing Death Case
  • Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building Parcel Bomb Incident
  • Subway Sarin Incident
• Tōmei Expressway Married Couple Fatal Accident[8]
• Carlos Ghosn[9]

• Evans, Keith (April 2000). 弁護のゴールデンルール [The Golden Rules of Advocacy] (in Japanese). Translated by Takano, Takashi. Gendai Jinbun-Sha. ISBN 978-4-04-082370-6.
• Casebook Law of Criminal Evidence (『ケースブック刑事証拠法』, “Kēsubukku Keiji Shōko Hō”), Gendai Jinbun-Sha, October 2008
• Criminal Court Defence Techniques (『刑事法廷弁護技術』, “Keiji Hōtei Bengo Gijutsu”), Nippon Hyoron Sha, 2018
• Takano, Takashi (June 10, 2021). 人質司法 [Hostage Justice]. Kadokawa Shinsho (in Japanese). KADOKAWA. ISBN 978-4-04-082370-6.

• Kazuya Yoshino, Not Guilty: Fighting for 372 Days in a Lay Judge Trial…Those Days (『無罪 裁判員裁判372日の闘争・・・その日』, “Muzai Saiban-in Saiban 372-nichi no Tōsō…Sono Hi”), Takeshobo, November 2012 * Book in which the author, who received a not guilty verdict due to Takano's defence, wrote about those experiences.

• The Law Office of Takashi Takano (in Japanese)
• Official Blog (in Japanese)