Japan’s New Capitalism Panel Signals Limited Change on Disparity
Japan’s Kishida Looks to Flag Change with ‘New Capitalism’ Panel
(Bloomberg) -- Japan’s new Prime Minister Fumio Kishida came to office pledging to spread the fruits of economic growth more widely and narrow differences between the haves and have-nots. His advisory panel charged with developing a “new capitalism” looks unlikely to press for radical change.
While there’s one labor union leader among the 15 members of the panel unveiled on Friday, the bulk of those appointed are senior executives from large companies and the finance industry. The group includes seven women and it replaces a growth council that was only a quarter female.
The new panel is assigned the task of creating a virtuous cycle of growth and distribution, and creating a new post-Covid society, according to a Cabinet Office statement Friday.
By highlighting the importance of distributing the benefits of growth more fairly, Kishida is hitting on a theme he hopes will shore up support for the ruling party in a general election at the end of this month. The prime minister has vowed to shift away from neoliberal economic policies and said corporate profits need to be shared with workers and subcontractors, not just shareholders.
New panel members include Commons Asset Management Chairman Ken Shibusawa, who is the great-great grandson of a pioneer of Japanese capitalism who founded the country’s first bank and stock exchange. The panel will also be debating a revision of the requirement to disclose company earnings on a quarterly basis.
Crowd funding platform provider READYFOR Inc.’s CEO Haruka Mera is also a part of the panel. So is Yumiko Murakami, a general partner with MPower Partners Fund, a venture capital fund focused on ESG investments that she co-founded with former Goldman Sachs vice chair Kathy Matsui. The first female leader of Japan’s federation of labor unions has also been appointed to the panel.
The full list is as follows:
Yuri Okina, Chair of Japan Research Institute Ltd
Kentaro Kawabe, Chair, President & Co-CEO of Z Holdings Corp
Kengo Sakurada, Chair, President & CEO of Sompo Holdings, Inc.
Takuko Sawada, Executive Vice President at Shionogi & Co
Ken Shibusawa, Chairman of Commons Asset Management
Takako Suwa, President & CEO, Daiya Seiki Co
Masakazu Tokura, Chairman, Sumitomo Chemical Co
Kazuhiko Toyama, CEO of Industrial Growth Platform
Miku Hirano, CEO of Cinnamon Inc
Yutaka Matsuo, Founding Partner of DEEPCORE Inc.
Akio Mimura, Chair, Japan Chamber of Commerce & Industry
Yumiko Murakami, General Partner, MPower Partners
Haruka Mera, Founder, READYFOR Inc.
Noriyuki Yanagawa, Professor of Economics, University of Tokyo
Tomoko Yoshino, head of the Japanese Trade Union Confederation
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