The Japan Business Federation, or Keidanren, plans to appoint Nippon Life Insurance Chairman Yoshinobu Tsutsui as the next head of the biggest business lobby in the country, current Keidanren Chairman Masakazu Tokura said Tuesday.
Tsutsui will be the first Keidanren chairman from the financial industry as the group usually picks its leader from the manufacturing sector.
Tsutsui is a "person who can work on social issues without bias," Tokura told reporters.
The 70-year-old Keidanren vice chair will assume the top post at a general meeting on May 29 next year, succeeding Tokura, 74, whose term expires in late May.
After becoming president of Nippon Life in 2011, Tsutsui led efforts to expand the insurer, including through the acquisition of Mitsui Life Insurance. He was appointed Nippon Life chairperson in 2018.
He also heads the GX Acceleration Agency, which was established in July this year to promote green investments by companies. In Japan, "GX" stands for "green transformation."
Tsutsui was named Keidanren vice chair in May last year.
Tokura, chairperson of Sumitomo Chemical, became the 15th chief of the business lobby in 2021, replacing the late former Hitachi Chairperson Hiroaki Nakanishi, who stepped down as Keidanren head due to health problems.
Thirteen of the 15 people who have so far led Keidanren have been from the manufacturing sector. The other two included Gaishi Hiraiwa, former chairman of a predecessor of Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings.
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