Kanaha
- Affiliation: University of Tokyo Law School
- Department: Mujin Japan Legal Team
- Duration: 2 Months (Hands-on Internship)
- Opportunity: University Entrepreneurship Dojo (Issei Takino’s Lecture)
Mujin’s First Legal Intern! Hands-on Experience and Real-World Learning Through In-House Legal Practice
This year, Mujin was thrilled to welcome Kanaha, our very first legal intern, to the Mujin Japan Legal Team!
Kanaha is currently studying at the University of Tokyo Law School. She discovered Mujin after attending a guest lecture at her university’s “Entrepreneurship Dojo” by Mujin Co-founder Issei Takino.
Why did she choose Mujin’s legal department? What did she learn about “defensive and offensive” corporate legal practice during her 2-month internship? We sat down with Kanaha to hear about her experience!
👤 Intern Profile
Section titled “👤 Intern Profile”
💬 Interview
Section titled “💬 Interview”🗣️ Q1. What inspired you to apply for Mujin’s internship?
Section titled “🗣️ Q1. What inspired you to apply for Mujin’s internship?”💬 Kanaha:
My first encounter with Mujin was during the “Entrepreneurship Dojo” course at my university. Mujin’s co-founder, Issei, was a guest speaker, and I was deeply inspired by his presentation.
At the networking session after the lecture, I learned that Mujin offered internships across various departments. It was fascinating to see each team recruiting independently.
Initially, I was also interested in the consulting division, but speaking directly with the legal team convinced me that I wanted to leverage my legal background to the fullest. That’s why I chose the Legal Team for my internship!
🗣️ Q2. Why in-house legal instead of a traditional law firm?
Section titled “🗣️ Q2. Why in-house legal instead of a traditional law firm?”💬 Kanaha:
While law school students typically choose law firm internships, I was confident that joining Mujin’s legal team would give me unique growth opportunities right at the core of business operations. Two main reasons stood out:
① In-House Perspective & Corporate Decision Making
Understanding how in-house lawyers think, how legal strategy aligns directly with business decisions, and how internal experts contribute to corporate growth.
② Cutting-Edge Robotics & IP Field
Engaging with a rapidly growing tech industry where intellectual property, contract law, and compliance require specialized legal expertise.
💬 Kanaha:
Furthermore, while typical law firm internships last only a few days as part of recruiting programs, Mujin offered a full 2-month hands-on experience working with real legal contracts. This matched my desire to sharpen practical skills!
Although I had zero prior background in industrial robotics, I decided to take the leap into this exciting new domain.
🗣️ Q3. What was the most memorable project during your internship?
Section titled “🗣️ Q3. What was the most memorable project during your internship?”💬 Kanaha:
The most memorable task was updating the compliance training materials for new employees. I was given full ownership of the project from scratch—selecting topics, researching precedents and law amendments, and designing the presentation slides.
Explaining complex legal concepts to non-legal team members in a concise 20-minute session forced me to deepen my own understanding and see things from the audience’s perspective. It gave me a true taste of corporate governance, cross-departmental coordination, and practical legal communication.
I also participated in reviewing live legal documents, including NDAs, master service agreements, and internal construction safety standards. Finding outdated references in safety standards highlighted the real-world challenge of maintaining regulatory alignment while keeping business moving forward.
Having dedicated mentors—an experienced international attorney and a senior paralegal—gave me invaluable multi-angled guidance throughout the program.
🗣️ Q4. How does law school learning differ from real in-house legal practice?
Section titled “🗣️ Q4. How does law school learning differ from real in-house legal practice?”💬 Kanaha:
In law school, we mostly study past facts to determine legality—a reactive, “defensive” perspective. In corporate in-house practice, however, the key question is preventative law: “How can we legally execute this business initiative safely?” Finding the right balance between offense and defense was an eye-opening revelation.
Working across departments to gather requirements from sales, finance, and engineering while driving business forward as an internal legal expert was immensely rewarding.
I am truly grateful to the Legal Team and everyone at Mujin for providing such an enriching experience that goes far beyond classroom lectures!
🌟 Message to Future Applicants
Section titled “🌟 Message to Future Applicants”💬 Kanaha:
For students who are exploring career paths or haven’t seen in-house lawyers in action, interning at Mujin offers a fresh and inspiring perspective.
If you want to expand your possibilities in the legal field, I highly recommend stepping outside conventional choices and taking on the challenge at Mujin!
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