Staff officer-turned-business leader Sejima dies

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20070905TDY01003.htm

The Yomiuri Shimbun



Ryuzo SejimaRyuzo Sejima, a onetime member of the military elite who went on to become an influential business leader, died of old age early Tuesday at his home in Tokyo. He was 95.

Born in 1911 in Toyama Prefecture, Sejima graduated from the Military Staff College in 1938 and became an army staff officer at the Imperial General Headquarters the following year. Later serving concurrently as a navy staffer, he was involved in working out operational strategies for the Pacific War.

Sejima was captured by the then Soviet military at the end of the war and detained in a Siberia prisoner-of-war camp for 11 years after the war.

Returning to Japan in 1956, he joined Osaka-based trading house C. Itoh & Co. (currently Itochu Corp.) in 1958. After serving as vice president and vice chairman, he became chairman of the company in 1978. Three years later, he withdrew from the business front line and assumed the post of adviser.

In 1971, Sejima served as a mediator in a capital tie-up between Isuzu Motors Ltd. and General Motors Corp. The tie-up was dissolved in 2006. He was instrumental in absorbing another trading house, Ataka & Co., in 1977 and displayed his ability to expand Itochu's international business and to grow it into a general trading house.

Sejima served as an auditor of NTV and chairman of the board of directors of Asia University in Tokyo.

One of the brains behind former Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone, Sejima served as a secret envoy who did the spadework for Nakasone's surprise visit to Seoul in 1983--a key event in helping to restore then cool bilateral relations.

Sejima was a member of the ad hoc administrative reform council and acting chairman of the second ad hoc council for the promotion of administrative reform.

Sejima played a major role in laying the foundation for privatization of three major public corporations--the Japanese National Railways, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Public Corporation, and Japan Tobacco and Salt Public Corporation.

He was decorated with the First Order of Sacred Treasure in 1984.

Sejima was often referred to as the key member of the "Showa brain trust" in recognition of his activities during the pre- and postwar times of the Showa era (1926-1989). Some people criticized Sejima's involvement in politics, however, citing his deep involvement in the war.

He is said to be one of the models for the main character of Toyoko Yamasaki's novel "Fumo Chitai" (Futile Zone), which describes the inside story of a trading house.

(Sep. 5, 2007)


My comment

When I read the article about Ryuzo Sejima's Death, I know the man for the first time. I'm surprised to know that he was once an army staff of the Imperial General Headquarter during World War Ⅱ and chairman of the Itochu Corporation after war. I haven't heard about that interesting career, so I'm fascinated by him. I also want to teach audience his existence. In the Sankei newspaper, the novelist Toyoko Yamazaki said "he is very keen person. If I asked him about his Siberia prisoner-of-war camp for 11 years several times, he avoided referring to that." He had precious experiences for Showa period, so I regretted his death. Though he may have a responsibility of war, I can clearly say that he made great contributions for Japan. He had experienced the tempestuous Showa period. I want to follow his life. What do you think about this great man?