Japan Business Federation
Economic organization founded in May 2002
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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 (経済団体連合会, Japan Federation of Economic Organizations, established 1946; name sometimes used alone as abbreviation for whole organization) and Nikkeiren (日本経営者団体連盟, Japan Federation of Employers' Associations, established 1948), with Nikkeiren being absorbed into Keidanren.[1][2]
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 Keidanren Kaikan, the head office of Japan Business Federation | |
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| 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 |
Region served | Japan |
Official language | Japanese |
Chairman | Yoshinobu Tsutsui |
| Website | www |
Formerly called | Keidanren, Japan Federation of Employers' Associations |
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 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.
The current chairman is Yoshinobu Tsutsui of Nippon Life. He has been chairman since May 2025.
Views
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%.[4]
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.[5] 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.[6]
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.[7][8]
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]
Current board
Chairman and vice-chairmen as of 2 July 2025.[9]
| Title | Name | Affiliation |
|---|---|---|
| Chairman | Yoshinobu Tsutsui | Executive Advisor, Nippon Life Insurance Company |
| Vice-Chair | Akiyoshi Koji | Honorary Chairman, Asahi Group Holdings, Ltd. |
| Tsuyoshi Nagano | Senior Executive Advisor, Tokio Marine | |
| Nobuhiro Endo | Executive Advisor, NEC Corporation | |
| Hideki Kobori | Chairman & Director, Asahi Kasei | |
| Koji Nagai | Chairman of the Board, Nomura Holdings | |
| Jun Sawada | Executive Chairman, NTT, Inc. | |
| Takehiko Kakiuchi | Chairman of the Board, Mitsubishi Corporation | |
| Seiji Izumisawa | Chairman of the Board, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries | |
| Yumiko Noda | Chairman & Representative Director, Veolia Japan | |
| Hironori Kamezawa | President & Group CEO, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group | |
| Hitoshi Nagasawa | Chairman, Director, Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha | |
| Makoto Takashima | Chairman of the Board, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group | |
| Masayuki Hyodo | Chairman of the Board, Sumitomo Corporation | |
| Kenichiro Yoshida | Director & Executive Chairman, Sony Group Corporation | |
| Hiroyuki Ogawa | Chairman of the Board, Komatsu Limited | |
| Takahito Tokita | Representative Director, CEO, Fujitsu | |
| Masahiro Kihara | President & CEO, Mizuho Financial Group | |
| Koji Sato | President & CEO, Toyota Motor Corporation | |
| Masakazu Kubota | President & Director General, Keidanren | |
Past officeholders
| Order | Past president | Affiliation | Tenure |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hiroshi Okuda | Toyota | May 2002 – May 2006 |
| 2 | Mitarai Fujio | Canon | May 2006 – May 2010 |
| 3 | Hiromasa Yonekura | Sumitomo Chemical | May 2010 – May 2014 |
| 4 | Sadayuki Sakakibara[10] | Toray Industries | June 2014 – May 2018 |
| 5 | Hiroaki Nakanishi | Hitachi | May 2018 – June 2021 |
| 6 | Masakazu Tokura[11] | Sumitomo Chemical | June 2021–May 2025 |
| 7 | Yoshinobu Tsutsui | Nippon Life | May 2025–present |
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See also
- Chamber of commerce
- List of employer associations
- Union of Industrial and Employers' Confederations of Europe (UNICE), a similar European business association