Japan Business Federation


The Japan Business Federation is an economic organization founded in May 2002 by amalgamation of Keidanren and Nikkeiren, with Nikkeiren being absorbed into Keidanren.
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.
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 and the Japan Association of Corporate Executives.
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%.

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. 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.

Political donations

Keidanren and its predecessor bodies had a long history of providing substantial political donations to the Liberal [Democratic Party (Japan)|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.

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.

Current board

Below are the lists of presidents, Chair, Vice-presidents and Vice-Chairs of Japan Business Federation.
TitleNameAffiliation
Council ChairFumiaki WatariAdvisor of JX Holdings
Vice-chairmanYu NomaguchiHonorary Adviser of Mitsubishi Electric
Vice-chairmanYoshiya HaraSenior Advisor Head Office of Daiwa Securities Group
Vice-chairmanNaotake OkuboBoard Counsel of Sekisui Chemical
Vice-chairmanAkihiko IdeChairman of Mitsubishi Materials Corporation
Vice-chairmanTsuneji UchidaPresident of Canon
Vice-chairmanNorio YamaguchiChairman of Ajinomoto
Vice-chairmanKazuhisa ShinodaPresident of Oji Paper Company
Vice-chairmanGo OjitaChairman of Asahi Group Holdings
Vice-chairmanAshida AkimitsuChairman of Mitsui O.S.K. Lines
Vice-chairmanKunio IshiharaChairman of Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance Co., Ltd.
Vice-chairmanKaoru YanoChairman of NEC
Vice-chairmanAtsushi KameiPresident of Ito-Yokado
Vice-chairmanFumio OhtsuboPresident of Panasonic Corporation
Vice-chairmanShinzo MaedaChairman of Shiseido
Vice-chairmanSusumu KatoPresident of Sumitomo Corporation
Vice-chairmanEiza KobayashiChairman of Itochu Corporation

Past officeholders