The Singapore International Mediation Centre completed its fourth Specialist Mediators' Workshop in Japan in March — its third in Tokyo — certifying 19 partners, general counsel and dispute resolution practitioners drawn from Japan, Singapore, India, Canada, Vietnam and the Netherlands.
The trainer bench reflected the program's standing: National University of Singapore professor Joel Lee led sessions alongside SIMC chief executive Chuan Wee Meng, counsel Siddharth Jha and SIMC's Japan representative Yuko Nitta, with opening remarks from SIMC vice-chairman Lok Vi Ming SC.
Participants came from the top tier of Japanese and international practice — Nishimura & Asahi, Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu, TMI Associates and Baker McKenzie among them — a sign that mediation advocacy is becoming a mainstream credential in Japanese disputes work rather than a niche interest.
The workshop reinforces a corridor that already runs through the JIMC-Kyoto/SIMC Joint Protocol, which lets parties mediate Japan-related cross-border disputes under the two institutions' combined administration. As SIMC extends the same training circuit through Delhi, Guangzhou and now Tashkent, Tokyo remains one of its most established stops.
