The influential Keidanren business lobby will name Toyota Motor Corp. Vice Chairman Takeshi Uchiyamada, 66, as one of its deputy chiefs, sources familiar with the matter said Sunday.
Two others slated to become vice chairmen at the business group, also known as the Japan Business Federation, are Toshiba Corp. President Norio Sasaki, 63, and Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp. President Hiroshi Tomono, 67, the sources said.
The appointments for two consecutive two-year terms will be approved at a general meeting in June.
Uchiyamada, Sasaki and Tomono will replace three of the current vice chairmen — Toyota adviser Katsuaki Watanabe, 70, Toshiba Chairman Atsutoshi Nishida, 69, and Nippon Steel Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Shoji Muneoka, 66.
The new vice chairmen will be in charge of proposing a range of measures to invigorate Japanese business and of engaging in discussions with Cabinet members and foreign dignitaries.
Sasaki is one of the private-sector members on the Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy, a key panel headed by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
Initially, the new vice chairmen and its other executives are expected to urge the government to join trade talks on the U.S.-led Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement at an early date and take measures to help Japan get a grip on deflation.