Japan Business Federation

Japan Business Federation

Keidanren Kaikan, the head office of Japan Business Federation
Formation May 2002
Type Economic organization
Legal status Organization
Purpose Promote the development of the Japanese economy
Headquarters Tokyo
Coordinates 35°41′19.2″N 139°45′48.6″E / 35.688667°N 139.763500°E / 35.688667; 139.763500Coordinates: 35°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
Key people
Sadayuki Sakakibara (chairman)
Website www.keidanren.or.jp/english/
Formerly called
Keidanren, Japan Federation of Employers' Associations

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 (Japan Federation of Economic Organizations, established 1946) and Nikkeiren (Japan Federation of Employers' Associations, established 1948), with Nikkeiren being absorbed into Keidanren.[1]

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).[2]

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 world economy and to strengthen the corporations to create additional value to transform Japanese economy into one that is sustainable and driven by the private sector, by encouraging the idea of individuals and local communities.

The current chairman is Sadayuki Sakakibara of Toray Industries. He has been chairman of The Japan Business Federation since May 2014.

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.[3][4]

View on consumption tax

Keidanren supports the Noda governments efforts to raise Japan's consumption tax from 5% to 10%. It has called in the past for the consumption tax to be raised even higher, to 15%.[5]

Views on nuclear power

After the March 11th nuclear disaster and subsequent shutdown of all the nuclear plants in Japan, Keidanren called for their restart.[6] 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.[7]

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.[8]

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.[9]

Current board

Below are the lists of Presidents, Chairmen, Vice-presidents and Vice-chairmen of Japan Business Federation (as of July 1, 2011).[10]

TitleNameAffiliation
ChairmanSadayuki SakakibaraChairman of Toray Industries
Vice-chairmanYoji OhashiChairman of All Nippon Airways
Hiromichi IwasaPresident & CEO of Mitsui Fudosan
Katsuaki WatanabeVice-chairman of Toyota
Atsutoshi NishidaChairman of Toshiba
Shoji MuneokaRepresentative Director and President of Nippon Steel Corporation
Takashi KawamuraRepresentative Executive Officer, Chairman and CEO and Board Director of Hitachi Ltd
Masahiro SakaneChairman of Komatsu Limited
Satoshi MiuraPresident & CEO of Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation
Yorihiko KojimaChairman of Mitsubishi Corporation
Nobuo KuroyanagiChairman of The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ
Norio KatsumataChairman of Marubeni
Mutsutake OtsukaChairman of East Japan Railway Company
Katsutoshi SaitoChairman of Dai-ichi Life
Masayuki OkuChairman of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group
Koji MiyaharaChairman of NYK
Hideaki OmiyaPresident of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries
Yoshio NakamuraSecretary-General of Japan Business Federation
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
芦田昭充Chairman 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

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

※初代の諸井貫一から3代目加藤正人までは『代表常任幹事』制を採用。
 4代目の櫻田武から単独会長制に移行。

Japan Business Federation
OrderPast presidentAffiliationTenure
1Hiroshi OkudaToyotaMay 2002 - May 2006
2Mitarai FujioCanonMay 2006 - May 2010
3Hiromasa YonekuraSumitomo ChemicalMay 2010 - May 2014

See also

References

  1. Japan Times Keidanren-Nikkeiren tieup scheduled for May 2002 start December 21 2000 Retrieved on July 22, 2012
  2. Nippon Keidanren website About Nippon Keidanren Retrieved on January 16th 2011
  3. Asahi Shimbun EDITORIAL: Political donations 2010/03/01 Retrieved on July 20, 2012
  4. Nikkei Weekly Business lobbies in state of flux June 16, 2012 page 28
  5. Keidanren urges gov't to raise consumption tax to 10% or higher+ Retrieved on July 20, 2012
  6. Kyodo News Keidanren chief renews call for restart of nuclear plants Retrieved on July 20, 2012
  7. Asahi Shimbun Softbank's Son denounces Keidanren's energy proposal Retrieved on July 20, 2012
  8. Nikkei Weekly Business lobbies in state of flux June 16, 2012 page 28
  9. The Daily Yomiuri Keidanren welcomes new member Yahoo August 1 2012 Retrieved on August 1, 2012
  10. Nippon Keidanren website http://www.keidanren.or.jp/english/profile/pro011.html Officers of Nippon Keidanren -Chairman, Vice Chairmen
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