Hitachi to replace president for first time in seven years Sorry, but your browser needs Javascript to use this site. If you re not sure how to activate it, please refer to this site: https://www.enable-javascript.com/
Kyodo May 12, 2021
Hitachi Ltd. said Wednesday it will promote Vice President Keiji Kojima to president on June 23, replacing Toshiaki Higashihara, who will become chairman and CEO, in the company’s first change of presidency since 2014.
Chairman Hiroaki Nakanishi, who has been hospitalized due to an ongoing battle with lymphoma, left the post on Wednesday, according to the Japanese industrial conglomerate. The 75-year-old will also step down on June 1 as chairman of the powerful Japan Business Federation, also known as Keidanren.
Masakazu Tokura, the next chairman of Keidanren (Japan Business Federation), speaks at a May 10 news conference. (Tatsuya Shimada)
Masakazu Tokura will take over as chairman of the powerful Keidanren (Japan Business Federation) from June 1 and work toward establishing a “sustainable capitalism.
Tokura, 70, the chairman of Sumitomo Chemical Co., was handpicked as Keidanren chairman by his predecessor, Hiroaki Nakanishi, who is stepping down due to health reasons.
After graduating from the University of Tokyo Economics Faculty, Tokura joined Sumitomo Chemical in 1974, when environmental pollution was a major issue and the Japanese economy was also reeling from the first oil shock.
But Tokura, who served as Sumitomo Chemical president for eight years from 2011, also believed that the “power of chemicals” was needed to resolve issues.
Keidanren chief Nakanishi to step down in June due to illness Sorry, but your browser needs Javascript to use this site. If you re not sure how to activate it, please refer to this site: https://www.enable-javascript.com/
Kyodo, Jiji May 10, 2021
The Japan Business Federation said Monday Masakazu Tokura, chairman of Sumitomo Chemical Co., will replace Hiroaki Nakanishi as the head of a powerful business lobby on June 1, due to Nakanishi’s ongoing battle with lymphoma.
Tokura, 70, will assume the post when the lobby, also known as Keidanren, holds a regular general meeting next month.
Nakanishi, 75, who is also executive chairman of industrial conglomerate Hitachi Ltd., has been hospitalized since last July due to a recurrence of lymphoma but had continued working remotely.
Tokura to replace Nakanishi as Japan Business Federation chief in June
May 10, 2021 (Mainichi Japan)
Masakazu Tokura, chairman of Sumitomo Chemical Co., seen in this file photo, will replace Hiroaki Nakanishi as head of the Japan Business Federation known as Keidanren, as Nakanishi is to step down on June 1, 2021, due to an ongoing battle with lymphoma, sources familiar with the matter said on May 10. (Kyodo)
Hiroaki Nakanishi (Kyodo) TOKYO (Kyodo) The Japan Business Federation said Monday that Masakazu Tokura, chairman of Sumitomo Chemical Co., will replace Hiroaki Nakanishi as head of the powerful business lobby also known as Keidanren on June 1 due to Nakanishi s ongoing battle with lymphoma.
Hiroaki Nakanishi, chairman of the Keidanren business group (Asahi Shimbun file photo)
Hiroaki Nakanishi, the head of Japan’s most powerful business lobby, Keidanren (Japan Business Federation), will step down on June 1 over suspicions that lymphoma has resurfaced in his body, sources said.
Nakanishi, 75, who is also chairman of Hitachi Ltd., will be the first chairman to resign from the post at Keidanren before his term expires since 2002, when the former Keidanren and Nikkeiren (Japan Federation of Employers’ Associations) merged.
Nakanishi has been hospitalized for lymphoma treatments for nearly a year. He told Keidanren that he will resign as chairman, sources said.