Nitto Denko Corporation (Headquarters: Osaka, Japan; President: Hideo Takasaki) (hereafter “Nitto”) announces the establishment of an investigation committee comprising external experts to investigate the company’s inappropriate practices (hereafter “the inappropriate practices”) in relation to the certification of its water membrane module products. The inappropriate practices were made public by Nitto on January 5, 2024.

Nitto offers its profound apologies to customers, water utility companies, water users, and all other parties concerned, including the Association of Membrane Separation Technology, Japan, for the concern and inconvenience caused by its actions.

Specific procedures and the schedule of the investigation will be determined by the investigation committee in due course. Nitto is committed to fully cooperating with the investigation by the committee.

１．Members of the Investigation Committee:

２．Purpose of the Investigation Committee:

• Investigate and probe the facts and causes of the inappropriate practices
• Develop and recommend recurrence prevention measures
• Undertake any other duties deemed necessary by the investigation committee

Brief Biographies of the Investigation Committee Members

Chairperson: Masato Igoshi

• Affiliation: Law Office Pegasus
• History:

  1980–2009	Prosecutor (Last job title: Chief Public Prosecutor)
  2009	Registered as a lawyer (Osaka Bar Association)
  2009–present	Law Office Pegasus

Member: Hiroshi Yamasaki

• Affiliation: Law Office Pegasus
• History：

  1987–1990	Worked at an insurance company
  1999	Registered as a lawyer (Osaka Bar Association)
  1999–2012	Shinsei Sougou Law Office
  2002–2004	Assistant to the Comprehensive External Auditor of Osaka Prefecture
  2013–present	Law Office Pegasus

Member: Michihiro Fujita

• Affiliation: Law Office Pegasus
• History:

  2007	Registered as a lawyer (Tokyo Bar Association)
  2008–2011	Worked at in an information systems company
  2011–2012	Shinsei Sougou Law Office (Osaka Bar Association)
  2013–present	Law Office Pegasus

Member: Masahiko Munechika

• Affiliation: Faculty of Science and Engineering, Waseda University
• History:

  1987–1992	Research Associate, Department of Reaction Chemistry, Faculty of Engineering, the University of Tokyo
  1992–1993	Assistant Professor, Department of Industrial Management, Faculty of Science and Engineering (now the Department of Industrial and Management Systems Engineering, School of Creative Science and Engineering), Waseda University
  1993–1999	Assistant Professor (Jokyo), same as above
  1999–present	Professor, same as above

Member: Hiroshi Yamamura

• Affiliation: Chuo University
• History:

  2009–2012	Worked at a chemical manufacturer
  2012–2015	Assistant Professor, Faculty of Science and Engineering
  2015–2020	Associate Professor, same as above
  2020–present	Professor, same as above