Sohei Nakayama, a former president of the Industrial Bank of Japan, a predecessor of Mizuho Corporate Bank, died at a hospital in Tokyo on Saturday, the bank said Tuesday. He was 99.
A native of Tokyo, Nakayama died of pneumonia-caused heart failure in Fuchu, western Tokyo.
As head of the leading long-term credit bank, Nakayama played a role in the postwar realignment of Japanese industries, including the 1970 merger of the nation's two biggest steelmakers, Yawata and Fuji, into Nippon Steel Corp.