Seiji Tsutsumi


Seiji Tsutsumi was a Japanese businessperson, author and poet, also known by the pen names Takashi Tsujii and Ikuo Yokose.

Background

Tsutsumi was the son of Yasujirō Tsutsumi, founder of the Seibu Railway company and a long-serving member, and eventually speaker, of Japan's House of Representatives.
He was born in Tokyo in 1927. After receiving his degree in economics from the University of Tokyo in 1951, he re-enrolled as a literature student and worked as a secretary to his father. He joined the Seibu Department Stores in 1954. Following the death of his father in 1964, he led the spin-off of its logistics business to form the Saison Group, which eventually included the Seibu department stores, Seiyu supermarkets, Wave, Parco, and the Muji and Loft variety store chains. He resigned as head of Saison in 1991 following the collapse of the Japanese asset price bubble, but continued as head of the Saison Cultural Foundation, which he founded in 1987.
Just before the death of his father Tasujiro, his brother Yoshiaki Tsutsumi was nominated as his heir, potentially due to Seiji's brief involvement with the Japanese Communist Party after the World War Two.
In addition to his business career, he has also had a notable career as writer and poet under his pen name Takashi Tsujii, and served as Director of International PEN Club, Japan. His work has been translated into Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Korean, and Russian.
He died of liver failure in Tokyo on November 25, 2013.

Prizes