Legal teams support CCC ideas by turning plans into services. We interviewed Hiroshi Nishikage, who oversees legal at CCC and CCCMKHD, on the appeal, rewards, and real work style unique to CCC Group legal.

From joining CCC to after joining

-First of all, please tell us about your career history before joining CCC.

He attended high school at United World College (UWC) in Singapore and earned an International Baccalaureate (IB) diploma. After returning to Japan, while attending university, he began helping his father, who was a jazz promoter, and worked in the business for about 15 years. During this time, I felt the need to study law in order to handle artists' works, so I went to law school while working, but when I graduated, my father's company had to close down.
After that, based on my past experiences, I was thinking that I wanted to work in a field that combined "content" and "law," and when I came across CCC, I thought that this was exactly the kind of work I could do, so I decided to join the company.

--What kind of career experience did you have after joining the company?

I first worked in the Legal Department of CCC, where I was mainly responsible for TSUTAYA BOOKS, T-SITE, and public service businesses, which CCC had launched as new business models at the time, such as Shonan T-SITE and Takeo City Library.
I then moved to T Point Japan and CCC Marketing (now CCCMKHD), where I was in charge of legal affairs and was involved in establishing a policy planning department to deal with government affairs and launching a healthcare business. Currently, as an executive, I am in charge of the legal departments of CCC and CCCMKHD.
This has not changed since I joined the company, but the entire company is always working on new things, so I feel like I am always taking on new challenges.

--Is there anything that you value when working?

Society is currently undergoing major changes, and at the same time, values are also changing. So when making decisions, I always make sure to understand the current situation and think about how the world will change in the future. I think my experience studying abroad has helped me to create a business while thinking about social norms, laws, Japanese culture, and how people feel, and imagining the differences between Japan and other countries.

Working together with legal affairs, we create a "plan" from scratch

--Please tell us about your legal work at CCC and CCCMKHD.

First of all, CCC's legal department is mainly responsible for work related to "real" platforms such as TSUTAYA BOOKS, SHARE LOUNGE, and public service businesses, as well as organizational restructuring and M&A. As a company, we are also focusing on opening stores overseas, so we handle tasks related to opening stores in Chinese-speaking and English-speaking countries.
Next, CCCMKHD's legal affairs department focuses on the "online" area, such as points, financial settlement, and database marketing, and is responsible for tasks such as reviewing contracts from a business perspective.

--Is there anything you think is unique to the legal department at CCC and CCCMKHD?

CCC and CCCMKHD are creating a new system that monetizes not "things" but "plans," that is, a system that combines people, things, and information, so the role of legal affairs is even more important. I think what sets us apart from other companies is that we work with the business side to create schemes from scratch, while also considering whether the plan is in the best possible form from a legal perspective. Another feature is that legal affairs can also be at the forefront of negotiations. As a result, members of the legal department are able to demonstrate not only their legal knowledge but also their negotiating skills and ability to organize schemes, making them highly effective.

Another important task for the legal department of CCC and CCCMKHD is to explain the situation to society and the government. Many of the "plans" we create are intangible and I think it can be difficult for customers to understand what we are doing. Furthermore, laws are revised to keep up with the times, so it is necessary to provide appropriate explanations to society each time.

For example, in December, CCCMKHD launched a website called the "Privacy Center" to help customers understand how their personal data is collected, protected, and utilized. It is not easy to explain things to customers and have them understand, but the legal department is required to clearly communicate our stance so that customers can use our services with greater peace of mind.

What's important is each person's "desire to do it"

--Since your business is so diverse, your legal responsibilities are also broad. Are there job changes within the legal department?

I myself have experienced being transferred from CCC to CCCMKHD, and many members have actually changed jobs within the legal department. We regularly transfer employees to new positions in accordance with each individual's career and life plans, or when those plans change.
CCC and CCCMKHD's businesses cover a wide range of fields, including both "real" and "online" areas. Therefore, if you work in legal affairs for 5 to 10 years at the CCC Group, you will have covered almost all the legal matters you will encounter in a company in Japan. I don't think there are many businesses that can gain such broad legal experience, so I think that is one of the strengths of the CCC Group.

We aim to have members of our legal department have one area in which they can never be beaten, and to have them develop strong knowledge and experience that puts them on par with external experts. I want them to grow into people who can do their jobs with their own unique weapons, not anyone else's. For example, at CCCMKHD, you will learn a lot about the Personal Information Protection Act, the Fund Settlement Act, and the Banking Act, and at CCC, you will gain experience in organizational restructuring/M&A and the Antimonopoly Act.Since we are currently opening many stores in the Greater China region, you will gain knowledge of Chinese legal affairs and gain a lot of on-site experience.
By doing so, you will be able to do things that others cannot do, and not only will you become an irreplaceable employee within the company, but you will also be able to grow into a highly valued professional in the corporate legal market, both inside and outside the company. CCC and CCCMKHD have an environment where this is possible, so although it is not easy, we ask our members to make a conscious effort.

--Finally, please give us a message for your future colleagues.

As mentioned above, the CCC Group is always challenging itself with new "projects."The CCC Group offers an environment where you can gain experience in a wide variety of legal matters, such as points business and database marketing at CCCMKHD, and store openings both domestically and internationally, public service businesses, and new businesses at CCC.
Also, times are changing now, and attention is being focused on online systems such as the cloud. Especially in times like these, I would like to work with people who want to create ``plans'' that will become new content that the world needs, while also working closely with businesses from a legal perspective.

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