Incoming Japan business lobby chief surprises with priorities

New Keidanren head puts tech ahead of fiscal issues as Trump changes landscape

20250414N Keidanren

Nippon Life Insurance Chairman Yoshinobu Tsutsui, left, will replace Masakazu Tokura as chairman of Keidanren in May, becoming the lobby's first head from the financial sector. (Photo by Ryo Nemoto)

RYO NEMOTO

TOKYO -- The next head of the Japan Business Federation, or Keidanren, has signaled an unexpected shift in the influential business lobby's priorities as tariffs and other policies pursued by U.S. President Donald Trump add to global uncertainty.

On March 25, in his first news conference since securing his appointment, Nippon Life Insurance Chairman Yoshinobu Tsutsui said he would create a roadmap toward realizing Keidanren's "Future Design 2040" vision published last December under outgoing chief Masakazu Tokura.

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