三宅・山崎法律事務所時代の私のボスで、1990年に環太平洋法曹協会（IPBA）という国際弁護士団体を創った三宅能生弁護士（１８期）を偲んで、英語で、三宅先生の思い出をしたためました。
４月のIPBA東京大会に間に合うかな、、、
多忙のため提出が１か月も遅れてしまいましたが、、、
II was an associate lawyer at Miyake & Yamazaki, which was founded by Mr. Miyake, for eight years. With this experience, let me touch on my personal stories with him.
1. Japan's best international lawyer
After returning to Japan from studying in the U.S. in 1970’s, Mr. Miyake joined a Japanese international law firm of current Anderson Mori & Tomotsune. His boss was Rabinowitz Esq., the pioneer in the field of international lawyers. Most of the pioneering Japanese international lawyers were the disciples of him.
Later, when asked which Japanese lawyer was the best, Mr. Rabinowitz replied, "Miyake."
2. How to do your job
In order to explain a certain difficult legal scheme to the Financial Services Agency, I once sent a fax to the Agency.
Mr. Miyake got angry and said, "Don’t assume you’ve done your job by just sending a fax. You can take a cab and get to the Agency in five minutes. Look the officer in charge in the eye and bow to him."
3. How to get a job
After finishing a case for a U.S. client, the client asked us to send the paper materials we had used for their records. I prepared the paperwork to be sent and showed them to Mr. Miyake. He said, “You idiot, this is the time to sort them more in detail, insert colored papers, and index each of them, and send them with care."
I followed his advice and sent them to the client. After a while, we received a heartful appreciation letter from the client. Mr. Miyake said, "This is how you build trust and get a job."
4. How to train young lawyers
Mr. Miyake occasionally made an English dictation and made young associate lawyers write it down. Mr. Miyake once dictated, “…We look forward to see you...” Indeed, he said “…to see you”.
I nonetheless wrote down “... to seeing you” and submitted it to him. He said nothing.
Later, the young lawyers looked at each other and said, "Mr. Miyake was deliberately dictating a wrong thing and testing us.”
5. Never praise
I was reporting to Mr. Miyake for eight years, and I was praised only once by him. No, I was never praised. I was just recognized only once. I remember it well because it happened only once.
On the train from Tokyo to Katsuura, where Mr. Miyake’s villa was located, I said to him, "People who can attend the reunion are those who were active in their school days and are still active in their own field.” He replied, “Yes." That’s it.
In other conversations, he always dared to disagree and play Devil's advocate to make his young men think by themselves.
6. How to wear the suit
In the occasion of the 2011 Kyoto IPBA promotion tour to Indonesia, the 70-year-old Miyake was talking to the Japanese ambassador to Indonesia, who was about 20 years younger than him, about 50 years old. The fat Mr. Miyake was sitting on the sofa and talking to the Ambassador for an hour, with the front buttons of his suit on all the time.
I learned how to wear the suit for official occasions.
7. Tipping in hotels
I was scolded severely by Mr. Miyake when I did not pay a tip to a boy at an overseas hotel.
8. History is made at night
At IPBA conferences, many IPBA friends -- around 10 to 15 people -- gathered in the suite that Mr. Miyake reserved for the after-party. There they would have fun by arm-wrestling, having sit-up contests… etc.
By doing so, he later said, "I'm looking at people. History is made at night. The personnel of international organizations is determined by how they behave after midnight.”
9. Attentive person
At the dinner table, Mr. Miyake never allowed a glass to be empty. He always paid attention to the empty glasses of the attendees and poured alcohol by himself.
He appeared to be a large-minded man, but was a man of careful attention.
10. Relationship with the secretary
His attitude toward secretaries was, "Don't be so high and mighty to your secretary, we're just the same person, just in different roles.”
This was the case with all the senior partners at Miyake & Yamazaki.
11. Good golfer
Mr. Miyake was a good golfer. At 70 years of age, he averaged a score of about 90. He taught me “You should only aim a challenging shot when you are sure that you try 10 times and have a better than 9 chances of making it.”
I have followed many of his other teachings, but I have not been able to follow this golf tips.
12. Bushido / Samurai
Just before he had a brain stroke in 2011, in Mr. Miyake’s hotel room somewhere in ASEAN countries, he kindly gave me a book of Lee Teng-hui’s “Bushido” that he had finished reading it. It became a memento.
He was a Samurai indeed.
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