Keidanren to develop 2050 vision against backdrop of AI and population decline

The Japan Business Federation, or Keidanren, plans to develop a new medium-term vision in light of an accelerating decline in the country’s population and the spread of artificial intelligence, its chairman, Yoshinobu Tsutsui, said Monday.

“Looking ahead to 2050, we will draw up a vision for the economy and society that we should aim for,” he said at a symposium held in Tokyo to mark the 80th anniversary of the country’s largest business group.

Keidanren will update its current vision covering the period until 2040 by holding discussions on a range of topics, including the low birthrate, education, regional revitalization, policies for foreign nationals and social security. An interim report is expected to be adopted in April 2027 and a final report in December that year.

“The Japanese economy has experienced stagnation in a deflationary structure, but the trend has started to change for sure as (corporate) efforts to raise wages and the government’s economic policies have borne fruit,” Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who attended the event as a guest, said, urging the business community to “make bold investments and continue raising wages.”

Shotaro Yachi, the first secretary-general of Japan’s National Security Secretariat, said, “Japan must survive as a major power with its own initiative” at a time when it is falling in global rankings in gross domestic product and the security environment surrounding the country is increasingly tense.

Keidanren was established in August 1946 and merged with the Japan Federation of Employers’ Associations, or Nikkeiren, in 2002.

Traditionally, a person from the manufacturing industry had served as Keidanren chairman. Tsutsui, who is from Nippon Life Insurance, became the first Keidanren leader from the financial sector in May 2025.