The Japan Business Federation said Monday Masakazu Tokura, chairman of Sumitomo Chemical Co., will replace Hiroaki Nakanishi as the head of the powerful business lobby also known as Keidanren, on June 1 due to Nakanishi's ongoing battle with lymphoma.

Tokura, 70, will assume the post when Keidanren holds a regular general meeting next month. Nakanishi, 75, who is also executive chairman of industrial conglomerate Hitachi Ltd., has been in hospital since July 2020 due to a recurrence of the type of blood cancer and has continued working remotely.

Tokura, a native of western Japan's Hyogo Prefecture and a graduate of the University of Tokyo, became president of Sumitomo Chemical in 2011 and chairman of the company in 2019.

Nakanishi was first hospitalized in May 2019 to receive treatment for lymphoma after starting his four-year term as Keidanren chief in May 2018. He took several months off from work to undergo treatment, and doctors said he had entered remission in November 2019.

Since being admitted to hospital again last July, Nakanishi has canceled a number of press conferences. The business lobby abruptly called off a news conference in April, saying he was suffering from side effects of his anti-cancer drug treatment.

Under Nakanishi's leadership, Keidanren scrapped its decades-old guidelines for the mass recruitment of new university graduates by major companies. He also eased conditions for startups to join the business lobby and promoted digitalization among Japanese firms following the outbreak of the novel coronavirus pandemic.

In March, the business lobby appointed Tomoko Namba, founder and chairwoman of online service provider DeNA Co., as the first female vice chair in its 75-year history.

==Kyodo

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