TOKYO: The Japan Business Federation, or Keidanren, said Monday that its current chairman, Hiroaki Nakanishi, will step down on June 1, with Masakazu Tokura, chairman of Sumitomo Chemical Co., set to take over the post.

Nakanishi, 75, offered his resignation in mid-April after the possibility of another relapse of his lymphoma was found to have risen. Since hospitalized in July last year due to a lymphoma resurgence, he had appeared to be recovering steadily.

Tokura, 70, also vice chair of Keidanren’s Board of Councillors now, will serve a four-year term as Keidanren chief from June 1. He was the group’s deputy head from 2015 to 2019.

At a press conference on Monday, Tokura vowed to “work with full force” to balance the fight against the coronavirus with economic activities for the time being.

“I aim to realize sustainable capitalism (as pursued by Nakanishi) and develop the business community, so it can gain support from the public,” he stressed.

When he served as president of Sumitomo Chemical from 2011, Tokura focused on improving the company’s financial base through streamlining efforts, as well as expanding its overseas operations.

Tokura will be the first Sumitomo Chemical executive to become Keidanren chief since the late Hiromasa Yonekura led the group from 2010 to 2014.

Nakanishi, chairman of Hitachi Ltd., became Keidanren’s 14th chairman in May 2018. His current term as Keidanren chief was due to run until the group’s annual meeting in 2022.

It is the first time for a Keidanren chairman to step down before the end of the term since the group was founded in 2002 through a merger of two major business lobbies.

In autumn 2018, Nakanishi abolished Keidanren’s rules on the hiring of new graduates by businesses. He pushed the “Society 5.0” concept of solving social issues through digital technology innovation.

Nakanishi compiled a new growth strategy in November 2020 that focuses on various stakeholders to realize sustainable capitalism. He has also supported the government’s goal of achieving a carbon-free society.

In May 2019, he was hospitalized for lymphoma. After returning to his duties as Keidanren chairman in September that year, he was hospitalized again in July 2020.

While in hospital, Nakanishi has been working only online. Some Keidanren member companies have voiced concerns over a decline in the group’s influence.

JIJI Press