Notice of Protest Letter Sent to Two Attorneys Representing Mr. Keisuke Kono, President of Kono Merikuron Co., Ltd.

Shosukabu.com Co., Ltd. (Head Office: Nerima-ku, Tokyo; President and Chairman: Yutaka Yamana; hereinafter "our company") hereby announces that on June 22, Reiwa 8, we delivered a formal protest letter to two attorneys representing Keisuke Kono, President of Kono Merikuron Co., Ltd. (Head Office: Mima City, Tokushima Prefecture; President: Keisuke Kono; hereinafter "Kono Merikuron"). The attorneys, Yusuke Kobayashi and Shoma Iwai (both from ALG & Associates Kobe Law Office), were protested for submitting a false statement to the Mima Branch of Tokushima Family Court that contradicts objective facts. We demand the immediate withdrawal of the false statements and a formal apology.

1. Background Leading to the Protest

Currently, our company, as the largest shareholder of Kono Merikuron Co., Ltd., is actively pursuing various procedures to improve corporate governance.

Under these circumstances, attorneys Yusuke Kobayashi and Shoma Iwai, representing Mr. Keisuke Kono, submitted a "Statement" to the Mima Branch of Tokushima Family Court on June 9, Reiwa 8, in connection with a mediation case. It has been confirmed that this statement contains unfounded and improper allegations that severely damage the social reputation, honor, and credibility of our company—an unrelated third party with no connection to the mediation case.

2. Excerpts of Unjustified Statements in the Statement

The statement submitted by the attorneys to the court includes the following highly malicious false claims and offensive expressions:

- "The buyer is clearly a dangerous organization or individual (※). Given the potential for severe negative impacts on a child’s life through association with such a person (※2), I find it difficult to allow contact with my wife." - "※ Dangerous organization/individual = Yutaka Yamana, Representative of Shosukabu.com" - "Mr. Yamana is allegedly funding the extremist group 'Tsubasa no To'. He may have repeatedly engaged in lawsuits with politicians and others. I personally received threatening-like communications from him regarding this share transfer (evidence available)." - "※2 Beyond this share transfer, I have heard that after selling the shares, the proceeds will be used to start a new business with Mr. Yamana (information and evidence from Mr. Yamana)."

3. Our Position and Reasons for Protest

The above unjustified statements definitively label our representative as a "clearly dangerous organization or individual," and claim that he "funds the extremist group Tsubasa no To" and "engaged in threatening-like behavior via phone calls." These claims are entirely baseless, completely false, and constitute malicious defamation with no grounding in objective facts. The mediation case in question is a highly private dispute concerning divorce and child custody between spouses. Our company is not a party to this case and is entirely unrelated as a third party.

Submitting and disclosing documents in a public legal proceeding such as mediation—documents that name an unrelated third party by full name and contain baseless offensive expressions and false facts—constitutes an illegal act of abusing judicial procedures for improper purposes.

Furthermore, attorneys Yusuke Kobayashi and Shoma Iwai, by uncritically accepting their client’s claims and preparing and submitting a statement containing severe defamation of a third party without proper verification or objective evidence, have engaged in highly inappropriate professional conduct. This violates Article 1 of the Attorney Act (the mission of attorneys) and the Fundamental Rules of Attorney Duties, and must be strongly condemned.

4. Future Actions

Our company has formally submitted a protest letter to attorneys Yusuke Kobayashi and Shoma Iwai through our legal representatives. Going forward, to protect our social credibility and legitimate rights, we will appropriately and strictly respond by considering all legal measures, including civil claims for damages, criminal complaints, and disciplinary proceedings with their respective bar associations.

Above

[Inquiries Regarding This Matter]

Shosukabu.com Co., Ltd.

Contact Department: Public Relations Desk　[email protected]

https://note.com/syousuukabu_koho

[Related Links]

Danjo-Umiwake.com: https://danjo-umiwake.com

CapitalJusticeLab: https://capital-justice-lab.com/

■ Profile of Our Representative

Yutaka Yamana

Born in December 1976, Mr. Yamana is a representative activist investor of the 1976 generation, as well as a painting collector, philanthropist, political sponsor, election consultant, policy advisor, social activist, and Akita dog enthusiast. Currently, as the largest shareholder of Kono Merikuron Co., Ltd., he is passionately investing in smart agriculture across three locations: Japan, Tbilisi (Georgia), and Amsterdam (Netherlands).

In particular, in Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia in the Caucasus region, he has already begun corporate operations in agriculture, hospitals, and schools, actively expanding local activities. Notably, the local medical institutions offering surrogacy and gender selection services are highly regarded for providing an innovative, low-cost business model accessible to Japanese citizens and people worldwide.

Recognized as an "activist investor who understands technology," he identified NVIDIA—a developer of GPGPU and artificial intelligence-related semiconductors—as an investment target in the early 2010s. He invested over 2 billion yen and ultimately achieved over 100x returns, becoming a billionaire.

Graduated as class representative from the Faculty of Economics at the University of Tokyo. Holds a Master’s degree in Financial Engineering from Columbia University’s Graduate School and studied at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) Graduate School. Co-representative of Investment Brothers LLC, co-founder and Chairman of Shosukabu.com Co., Ltd., and currently a shareholder in over 1,000 listed companies and 200 unlisted companies worldwide.

Born in Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, in 1976, as a grandson of Shigeru Yamana, founder of Hoya Glass (now HOYA Corporation, listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Standard Market, Securities Code 7741), and raised in Shakujii-dai, Nerima-ku. Excelled academically from childhood, attending Oizumi Bunka Kindergarten, Ochanomizu University Attached Elementary School, and Musashi Junior and Senior High School before graduating as class representative from the University of Tokyo’s Faculty of Economics. Despite struggles with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) and dyslexia, he consistently maintained excellent academic performance.

In his childhood, he received a souvenir from Takahiro Matsumoto, then a high school student at Kinjo High School living in the Takeda Pharmaceutical Company’s company housing in front of his home, who later became the guitarist of B'z. While in Professor Kazuo Ueda’s seminar—current Governor of the Bank of Japan—he was already active as a stock investor, earning the nickname "the top stock trader in Ueda’s seminar," and was also known as the "Heisei-era Hiraga Gennai" due to his diverse academic interests.

During his time in the Faculty of Liberal Arts, he read all published papers by Masahiko Aoki, the pioneer of comparative institutional analysis, and Professor Avner Greif, an emerging economic historian from Israel at Stanford University’s Department of Economics.

As a pioneer of activist investing in Japan, he publicly opposed HOYA Corporation’s acquisition of Pentax in 2007 through a weekly magazine. The following year, the company recorded massive special losses, thereby proving the validity of his stance at an early stage. Subsequently, he criticized elderly directors in their late 70s