Latest news with #TsutsuiYoshinobu
01-06-2025
- Business
Nippon Life's Tsutsui Yoshinobu Appointed New Keidanren Chair
Japan Data Tsutsui Yoshinobu, former chairman of Nippon Life Insurance, has been appointed head of influential Japanese economic organization Keidanren. He is the first leader of the group to hail from the finance industry. Tsutsui Yoshinobu, the former head of Nippon Life Insurance, was appointed chair of Keidanren (Japan Business Federation) on May 29, 2025. He stepped down from his position at Nippon Life to take the new role. The Keidanren chair serves for two terms over a period of four years. Although the position does not have as much sway as during Japan's period of high economic growth, when the chair was regarded as the leader of big business in Japan, it continues to have an influece on national politics by representing the interests of industry and serving as an advocate for public opinion. Tsutsui is the first head of the group to hail from the world of finance, bucking the unwritten rule that the chair should come from a manufacturing background. He is also the first chair not to come from a listed company; Nippon Life Insurance is a mutual company in which policyholders are company members. Tsutsui became president of Nippon Life Insurance in 2011, where he oversaw the acquisition of Mitsui Life Insurance (now Taiju Life Insurance) in 2015 and strengthened the company's revenue base. He was appointed chairman of Nippon Life in April 2018 and became a Keidanren vice chair in 2023. He was also tapped as the inaugural chair of the GX (Green Transformation) Acceleration Agency in July 2024, which was established by the government to push forward decarbonization. Chairs of Keidanren Keidanren (under former English name: Japan Federation of Economic Organizations) 1 Ishikawa Ichirō (Nissan Chemical Industries) 1948–56 2 Ishizaka Taizō (Toshiba Shibaura) 1956–68 3 Uemura Kōgorō (Keidanren Secretariat) 1968–74 4 Dokō Toshio (Toshiba Shibaura) 1974–80 5 Inayama Yoshihiro (Nippon Steel) 1980–86 6 Saitō Eishirō (Nippon Steel) 1986–90 7 Hiraiwa Gaishi (TEPCO) 1990–94 8 Toyoda Shōichirō (Toyota) 1994–98 9 Imai Takashi (Nippon Steel) 1998–2002 Nippon Keidanren (under current English name: Japan Business Federation) 10 Okuda Hiroshi (Toyota) 2002–06 11 Mitarai Fujio (Canon) 2006–10 12 Yonekura Hiromasa (Sumitomo Chemical) 2010–14 13 Sakakibara Sadayuki (Toray) 2014–18 14 Nakanishi Hiroaki (Hitachi) 2018–21 15 Tokura Masakazu (Sumitomo Chemical) 2021–25 16 Tsutsui Yoshinobu (Nippon Life Insurance) 2025– (Translated from Japanese. Banner photo: Tsutsui Yoshinobu [left], the incoming chair of Keidanren, shakes hands with his predecessor Tokura Masakazu on March 25, 2025. © Kyōdō.)
NHK
30-05-2025
- Business
- NHK
Japan's leading business lobby gets new chairman
Japan's leading business lobby has a new leader. Tsutsui Yoshinobu is a former chairman of Nippon Life Insurance. He is now head of the Japan Business Federation, or Keidanren, and the first person from the financial industry to hold that position. Tsutsui said, "Keidanren will aim to fulfill its responsibility to future generations by embracing mid- and long-term perspectives as well as viewpoints of the whole of Japan." He stressed that he thinks the nation's tax and social security systems should be reformed. He said he wants to clarify the structure of payments and burdens in order to lessen the financial strain on working people. Tsutsui also touched on the issue of the government selling stockpiled rice directly to retailers, which are offering it for reduced prices. He said the prices need to drop in the short term. But he added that Keidanren needs to convey that agricultural and food policies have structural issues.
