View on consumption tax Keidanren supported the
Noda government's efforts to raise Japan's consumption tax from 5% to 10%. It had previously called for the consumption tax to be raised even higher, to 15%.
Views on nuclear power After the March 11 nuclear disaster and subsequent shutdown of all the nuclear plants in Japan, Keidanren called for their restart. This view was not shared by all business leaders, with
Rakuten president
Hiroshi Mikitani leaving the federation partly over this issue.
Masayoshi Son of
Softbank publicly objected to the focus on restarting the nuclear plants, but didn't leave the federation over it.
Political donations for the LDP The Keidanren regularly conducts political donations to the dominant
Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). The
Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) pledged to ban corporate and organizational political donations during the
2009 general election to address public concerns over legislative influence. Following their victory, Keidanren initially suspended its donation programs. However, the DPJ failed to codify a total ban due to internal funding scandals and the continued use of legal loopholes. While direct giving to individuals was prohibited, organizations utilized political party branches to route funds to lawmakers. The failure to enact these reforms, coupled with the government's response to the
2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, caused a significant decline in public support. In the
2012 general election, the DPJ suffered a massive defeat, losing over three-quarters of its seats. The LDP subsequently returned to power and maintained the existing donation system. Despite 2024 legislative updates that lowered disclosure thresholds for fundraising events, corporate contributions remain legal in Japanese politics. ==Changes to board composition==