Kazuo Sumi, former president and chairman of railway operator Hankyu Hanshin Holdings, died at his house in the city of Takarazuka, Hyogo Prefecture, on April 26, sources said Wednesday. He was 76.
A Hyogo native, Sumi joined Hankyu, a railway operator in the Kansai region in 1973 and became its president in 2003 after serving in posts such as head of the firm's railway business headquarters.
Later, Sumi became president of Hankyu Holdings, which was transformed from Hankyu.
Under Sumi's leadership, Hankyu Holdings began to buy shares of Hanshin Electric Railway to protect the major rival from an attempt by an investment fund led by activist shareholder Yoshiaki Murakami to massively buy Hanshin shares.
Through the move, Sumi played a key role in the creation of Hankyu Hanshin Holdings in October 2006, which marked the first business integration between major private railway firms in Japan's postwar history.
Sumi served as the first president of Hankyu Hanshin Holdings and then assumed the post of chairman at the company in June 2017.
Sumi also had a major influence in the Kansai region's business world. He became vice chairman of the Kansai Economic Federation in 2011 while making major contributions to bringing the 2025 World Exposition to the city of Osaka.
In 2023, Sumi resigned as head of the board of Takarazuka Music School following the death of a member of Takarazuka Revue, a famous all-female musical theater company, in the same year.
He stepped down as Hankyu Hanshin Holdings chairman in December 2024 due to health concerns.
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