Japan Business Federation
FormationMay 2002
TypeEconomic organization
Legal statusOrganization
PurposePromote the development of the Japanese economy
HeadquartersTokyo
Coordinates35°41′19.2″N 139°45′48.6″E / 35.688667°N 139.763500°E / 35.688667; 139.763500
Region served
Japan
Official language
Japanese
Chairman
Masakazu Tokura
Websitewww.keidanren.or.jp/en/
Formerly called
Keidanren, Japan Federation of Employers' Associations

The Japan Business Federation (日本経済団体連合会, Nippon Keizai-dantai Rengōkai) is an economic organization founded in May 2002 by amalgamation of Keidanren (合会, Japan Federation of Economic Organizations, established 1946; name sometimes used alone as abbreviation for whole organization) and Nikkeiren (営者団体, Japan Federation of Employers' Associations, established 1948), with Nikkeiren being absorbed into Keidanren.[1][2]

The federation is commonly referred to as "Keidanren", its 1,601 members consist of 1,281 companies, 129 industrial associations, and 47 regional economic organizations (as of June 15, 2010).[3]

For most of the post-war period, Keidanren has been the voice of big business in Japan and is generally considered the most conservative of the country's three major private sector led business associations. The other two organizations are the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (日本商工会議所) and the Japan Association of Corporate Executives (経済同友会).

According to the organization's official website, the mission of the Keidanren is to: accelerate growth of Japan's and the world's economy, and to strengthen the corporations to create additional value to transform the Japanese economy into one that is sustainable and driven by the private sector by encouraging the ideas of individuals and local communities. In April 2023, the organization lobbied the Japanese government to promote the export of anime and manga, warning that Japan could lose to emerging competitors such as South Korea.[4]

The current chairman is Masakazu Tokura of Sumitomo Chemical. He has been chairman of The Japan Business Federation since June 2021.

Political donations

Keidanren and its predecessor bodies had a long history of providing substantial political donations to the Liberal Democratic Party. In the lead-up to the 2009 general election the Democratic Party of Japan made a pledge to ban political donations from companies and organizations. After the DPJ victory in that election, Keidanren stopped making political donations.[5][6]

View on consumption tax

Keidanren supported the Noda government's efforts to raise Japan's consumption tax from 5% to 10%. It had previously called for the consumption tax to be raised even higher, to 15%.[7]

Views on nuclear power

After the March 11 nuclear disaster and subsequent shutdown of all the nuclear plants in Japan, Keidanren called for their restart.[8] This view was not shared by all business leaders, with Rakuten president Hiroshi Mikitani leaving the federation partly over this issue. Masayoshi Son of Softbank publicly objected to the focus on restarting the nuclear plants, but didn't leave the federation over it.[9]

Changes to board composition

In 2002, when Keidanren took on its current form, two-thirds of its 18 vice-chairmen were from manufacturing companies. As of July 2012, only 8 of the 18 are filled by executives of manufacturers.[10]

Yahoo! Japan

Yahoo! Japan was a founding member of Rakuten CEO Hiroshi Mikitani's Japan e-business association in February 2010, but after Rakuten withdrew from Keidanren in June 2011 and made moves to become the Japan Association of New Economy as a rival to Keidanren, Yahoo! Japan withdrew from the e-business association in March 2012. It joined Keidanren in July 2012.[11]

Current board

Masakazu Tokura, Chairman of Keidanren

Below are the lists of presidents, Chair, Vice-presidents and Vice-Chairs of Japan Business Federation (as of July 1, 2021).[12]

TitleNameAffiliation
ChairMasakazu Tokurachairman of the board of Sumitomo Chemical
Vice-ChairShuzo SumiSenior Executive Advisor of Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance
Tetsuro TomitaChairman and Director of East Japan Railway Company
Shinya KatanozakiPresident and CEO of ANA Holdings
Tsutomu SugimoriRepresentative Director, Chairman of the board, Group CEO of ENEOS Holdings
Kuniharu Nakamurachairman of the board of directors of Sumitomo Corporation
Nobuyuki HiranoSenior Advisor of MUFG Bank
Koichiro WatanabeDirector, chairman of the board of Dai-ichi Life
Hiromichi Shinoharachairman of the board of Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation
Tetsuji Ohashichairman of the board of Komatsu Limited
Yasuhiro SatoChairman of Mizuho Financial Group
Masanobu KomodaPresident and CEO of Mitsui Fudosan
Jun OhtaPresident and Group CEO of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group
Tasuo YasunagaRepresentative Director, chairman of the board of directors of Mitsui & Co.
Masaki SakuyamaChairman of Mitsubishi Electric
Toshiaki HigashiharaDirector, Representative Executive Officer and Executive Chairman of Hitachi
Eiji HashimotoRepresentative Director and President of Nippon Steel
Kazuhiro Tsugachairman of the board of Panasonic Corporation
Tomoko Namba[13]Founder & Executive Chairman of DeNA
Masakazu KubotaPresident of Keidanren
TitleNameAffiliation
Council ChairFumiaki WatariAdvisor of JX Holdings
Vice-chairmanYu NomaguchiHonorary Adviser of Mitsubishi Electric
Yoshiya HaraSenior Advisor Head Office of Daiwa Securities Group
Naotake OkuboBoard Counsel of Sekisui Chemical
Akihiko IdeChairman of Mitsubishi Materials Corporation
Tsuneji UchidaPresident of Canon
Norio YamaguchiChairman of Ajinomoto
Kazuhisa ShinodaPresident of Oji Paper Company
Go OjitaChairman of Asahi Group Holdings
Ashida AkimitsuChairman of Mitsui O.S.K. Lines
Kunio IshiharaChairman of Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance Co., Ltd.
Kaoru YanoChairman of NEC
Atsushi KameiPresident of Ito-Yokado
Fumio OhtsuboPresident of Panasonic Corporation
Shinzo MaedaChairman of Shiseido
Susumu KatoPresident of Sumitomo Corporation
Eiza KobayashiChairman of Itochu Corporation

Past officeholders

Japan Business Federation
OrderPast presidentAffiliationTenure
1Hiroshi OkudaToyotaMay 2002 – May 2006
2Mitarai FujioCanonMay 2006 – May 2010
3Hiromasa YonekuraSumitomo ChemicalMay 2010 – May 2014
4Sadayuki Sakakibara[14] Toray Industries June 2014 – May 2018
5Hiroaki NakanishiHitachiMay 2018 – June 2021
6Masakazu Tokura[13] Sumitomo ChemicalJune 2021–present
Old Business Federation
OrderPast chairmanAffiliationTenure
1Ichiro IshikawaNissan Chemical IndustriesMarch 1948 – February 1956
2Taizo IshizakaTokyo Shibaura ElectricFebruary 1956 – May 1968
3Uemura KōgorōKeidanren SecretariatMay 1968 – May 1974
4Toshiwo DokoTokyo Shibaura ElectricMay 1974 – May 1980
5Inayama YoshihiroNippon SteelMay 1980 – May 1986
6Eishiro SaitoNippon SteelMay 1986 – December 1990
7Gaishi HiraiwaTokyo Electric PowerDecember 1990 – May 1994
8Shoichiro ToyodaToyotaMay 1994 – May 1998
9Takashi ImaiNippon SteelMay 1998 – May 2002
Former Japan Federation of Employers' Associations
OrderPast president
(permanent typical secretary)
AffiliationTenure
1Kanichi MoroiTaiheiyo CementMarch 1948 – April 1968
2Miki TakashiYawata Iron & Steel Co.,Ltd.April 1949 – April 1952
3Kato MasatoDaiwabo Co., Ltd.April 1949 – August 1963
4Takeshi SakuradaNisshinbo IndustriesApril 1960 – May 1979
5Bunpei OtsukiMitsubishi Mining & Cement Co., Ltd.May 1979 – May 1987
6Eiji SuzukiMitsubishi Chemical CorporationMay 1987 – May 1991
7Ken NaganoMitsubishi MaterialsMay 1991 – May 1995
8Jiro NemotoNYKMay 1995 – May 1999
9Hiroshi OkudaToyotaMay 1999 – May 2002

See also

References

  1. Japan Times Keidanren-Nikkeiren tieup scheduled for May 2002 start December 21 2000 Retrieved on July 22, 2012
  2. "Keidanren". WBCSD. Retrieved October 1, 2021.
  3. "About Nippon Keidanren". Japan Business Federation. Archived from the original on April 30, 2012. Retrieved January 16, 2011.
  4. Nguyen, Joana (April 10, 2023). "Japan lobby group calls for promotion of anime, manga overseas".
  5. Asahi Shimbun EDITORIAL: Political donations 2010/03/01 Retrieved on July 20, 2012
  6. Nikkei Weekly Business lobbies in state of flux June 16, 2012, page 28
  7. Keidanren urges gov't to raise consumption tax to 10% or higher+ Retrieved on July 20, 2012
  8. "Keidanren chief renews call for restart of nuclear plants". Kyodo News. April 23, 2012. Archived from the original on April 23, 2012.
  9. "Softbank's Son denounces Keidanren's energy proposal". The Asahi Shimbun. November 16, 2011. Archived from the original on November 16, 2011. Retrieved July 20, 2012.
  10. Nikkei Weekly Business lobbies in state of flux June 16, 2012, page 28
  11. "Keidanren welcomes new member Yahoo". August 1, 2012. Archived from the original on August 1, 2012.
  12. Nippon Keidanren website "About Keidanren Officers of KEIDANREN". Retrieved August 8, 2021.
  13. 1 2 "Japan's biggest business lobby gets new chief, first female vice chair". The Japan Times. The Japan Times. June 2, 2021. Archived from the original on June 18, 2021. Retrieved September 30, 2021.
  14. "Chairman Sakakibara's Statements and Comments". keidanren.or.jp. Keidanren. May 21, 2018. Retrieved March 17, 2019.
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