Suntory head chosen as Keizai Doyukai chairman

Jiji Press

16:14 JST, December 13, 2022

TOKYO (Jiji Press) — The Japan Association of Corporate Executives, or Keizai Doyukai, decided on Monday to appoint Suntory Holdings Ltd. President Takeshi Niinami as its next chairman.

Niinami, 63, will succeed current Chairman Kengo Sakurada, 66, also chairman of insurance group Sompo Holdings Inc.

Niinami will take office at an ordinary general meeting of Keizai Doyukai in April 2023 after the appointment is approved by senior members of the major business lobby as early as this week.

He worked for trading house Mitsubishi Corp. before becoming president of convenience store chain Lawson Inc. in 2002 at age 43.

In 2014, he became the first president of Suntory from outside the founding family, as requested by the company.

At Keizai Doyukai, Niinami became vice chairman in June 2020. He also sits on the government’s Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy from 2014.

Sakurada, who will reach the end of his second term as Keizai Doyukai chairman in April 2023, became the group’s first leader from the insurance industry in April 2019.