Kakutaro Kitashiro, chairman of the Japan Association of Corporate Executives (Keizai Doyukai), has received the annual Zaikai Prize, awarded by the publisher of business magazine Zaikai.
Kitashiro, formerly president of IBM Japan Ltd., was chosen for his active role in promoting structural reforms of the economy, especially deregulation, and for advocating establishment of business ethics on the part of executives, the publisher said.
Masaharu Ikuta, president of Japan Post, received the Special Prize for spearheading the ongoing process of postal service privatization since he assumed the presidency of the organization in April 2003.