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28 January, 2008
The ICEM was saddened to learn of the death on, 17 January 2008, in Japan, of Daisaku Kouchiyama, chairman of ICEM-JAF from 1992 until 2001. He was 68.
“Brother Kouchiyama was a driving force in establishing the present structure of the ICEM,” stated General Secretary Manfred Warda. “We have lost a brother and a leader whose name will be remembered in the context of the successes that, first, the ICEF achieved, and then the ICEM reached.”
Warda alerted many present and past leaders of the ICEF, MIF, and ICEM of his passing. That brought many written tributes and testaments that were forwarded to his family at his funeral on 20 January. Brother Kouchiyama was a leader in the reformation of the modern Japanese labour movement, as well as a champion of the rights of workers globally.
Daisaku Kouchiyama
He served as a Vice President and Chairman of the Asia-Pacific Region of the ICEF and ICEM until his retirement in 2001, and was one of the key negotiators in the merger between the ICEF and Mineworkers’ International Federation (MIF). In 1854, he started working at Takeda Pharmaceutical, and rose through the trade union ranks of Zenka Domei and later, UI Zensen labour federation.
In Japan, he served on a number of important committees, including the Council on Statutory Social Insurance, the Council of Chemical Products, the Price Stabilization Committee, the Central Labour Relations Commission, and the Japanese National Commission for UNESCO.
Brother Kouchiyama had been bed-ridden since mid-December 2007, suffering from the last stages of cancer. The ICEM extends its condolences to his family, and to the trade union movement in Japan over his passing.