By HIDEKI AOTA/ Staff Writer
April 27, 2023 at 15:50 JST
Takeshi Niinami, the newly appointed chairman of Keizai Doyukai (the Japan Association of Corporate Executives) (Hideki Aota)
A newly appointed business lobby leader called for social reforms that include the country’s legal system, where marriage is a social norm.
“Is it really OK for us to have a societal structure that states we must get married?" said Takeshi Niinami, who became the chairman of Keizai Doyukai (the Japan Association of Corporate Executives), on April 27.
“We need to decide how to adjust decades-old policies to meet today’s increasingly diverse society,” said Niinami, highlighting the gaps in Japan’s legal system and family policies that are designed to best serve those who are married.
Niinami, 64, president of Suntory Holdings Ltd., spoke to journalists before he officially took up the position to lead one of the three major business lobbies in Japan.
Niinami called for a “diverse, fair and inclusive society,” which he said would help address the nation’s chronically low birthrate and improve people’s work-life balance.
He stressed the importance of increased support for workers and a more flexible and thriving labor market.
The new chairman also called on the government to boost the healthcare and entertainment industries.
Keizai Doyukai expected to name busy Niinami as next chairman
December 13, 2022
Japan should brace for ‘leaderless era’ as U.S. turns inward, adviser to PM says
November 10, 2020
Izakayas, once a staple of after-work socializing, crippled by pandemic
June 25, 2020
Business titans mixed on issue of energy imports from Russia
June 21, 2022
Political allies, opponents all pray for Abe’s recovery
July 8, 2022
Yamaha English School teachers win regular employee status
June 4, 2020
Stories about memories of cherry blossoms solicited from readers
Cooking experts, chefs and others involved in the field of food introduce their special recipes intertwined with their paths in life.
A series based on diplomatic documents declassified by Japan’s Foreign Ministry
A series on the death of a Japanese woman that sparked a debate about criminal justice policy in the United States
A series about Japanese-Americans and their memories of World War II
Here is a collection of first-hand accounts by “hibakusha” atomic bomb survivors.
