A129 The correct answer is (b). Fujio Mitarai is the eleventh chair-man. The first chairman of Keidanren was Ichiro Ishikawa, the president of Nissan Chemical Industries, Ltd. The last chairmen before the amalgamation of the two organizations, was the ninth chairman, Takashi lmai, the president of then-Nippon Steel Corp.

The next chairman, and the first of the amalgamated organization was Hiroshi Okuda, then-chairman of Toyota Motor Corp. The head of Nippon Keidanren is considered to be the prime minister of the business world and the position has always been occupied by individuals from leading industries, such as the electronics, power generation, steel and automobile industries. This makes the current chairman an exception, since he is president of the precision machinery industry's Canon Inc.

The role of Japan's business organizations