Tsutsui for New Keidanren Chair

The Japan Business Federation (Keidanren) decided to appoint Yoshinobu Tsutsui, the Chairman of Nippon Life Insurance Co. (Nissay), for next Chairman, expected to succeed Masakazu Tokura in next May. It is the first time for Keidanren to have chairman not from a manufactural company which has been leading Japanese economy. The choice of Tsutsui may symbolize structural change of business in Japan. 

Keidanren is an organization of business in Japan, which represents Japanese economy. The organization includes 1,542 companies, 106 organization of each industry such as manufacturers or services, and 47 regional business organizations. It defines its mission as “to draw upon the vitality of corporations, individuals and local communities to support corporate activities which contribute to the sustainable development of the Japanese economy and improvement in the quality of life for the Japanese people.”

 

Established in 1946, Keidanren has mainly been upholding its chairmen among the leaders of manufactural businesses. They include Toshio Doko from Toshiba, Eishiro Saito from New Nippon Steel, Shoichiro Toyoda from Toyota and Fujio Mitarai from Canon. Two exceptions are Kougoro Uemura from the management office of Keidanren and Gaishi Hiraiwa from Tokyo Electric Power Company.

 

Before naming Tsutsui for next chairman, Tokura has indicated in May, one year before his retirement, that this would not be the time for continuing the choice of chairperson from manufacturers. “We are in an era in which local communities, industrial competitiveness, global environment, gap of wealth and social security are interconnected. We need to look down our society and offer solutions from mid-term or long-term viewpoints” said Tokura in his press conference for announcing next chairman.

 

As a manager of a life insurance company, Tsutsui is an expert of social security and tax. Nissay is known as one of the biggest institutional investors in Japan, making Tsutsui knowledgeable about details of each corporation and local community. He is also the chairman of Green Transformation Acceleration Agency, an organization for investment on decarbonized economy authorized by Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. Tsutsui is expected to lead energy policies of Keidanren.

 

Former chairmen of Keidanren pressured the government of Japan to adjust excessive appreciation of Japanese yen, to promote free trade agreement with foreign countries or to reduce corporate tax. Keidanren has exercised its political power as a great pressure group for the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, possessing large influence in elections.

 

Now, Tokura and his successor is focusing on solving social problems. In a proposal to the government released earlier this month, Keidanren stressed necessity for introducing further taxation on the riches. It also expected resumption of nuclear power reactors and development of new type of reactors to cover growing demand for energy. However, promotion of nuclear power generation may face concerns of safety. It is important for Tsutsui to explain the sustainable way of Japanese businesses to go.

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