Tsumura adds COO Kei Sugii as representative director

Tsumura has added COO Kei Sugii as representative director, effective June 26, after an extraordinary board meeting held the same day. The company said the move is intended to strengthen its management structure and build a faster decision-making system.

The appointment took effect on the same day as the board resolution, with no separate transition date listed in the notice.

The change itself is precise. Sugii's previous title was director and COO, while also serving as president of the Prescription Kampo Medicine Company. His new title keeps those operating roles in place and adds representative director. The notice does not announce a new business plan, a financial target, or any other management changes beyond this additional appointment.

The filing also lays out a career path centred on operations. Sugii joined Tsumura in 2009 after earlier roles in engineering and at Accenture, later led logistics planning and supply chain management, served in senior posts at the company's Shenzhen subsidiary, and became head of production in 2020. He was named co-COO in 2022, later served as director co-COO, and in April this year became director and COO while also heading the Prescription Kampo Medicine Company. The notice says he holds 10,900 Tsumura shares.

For readers outside Japan, the practical takeaway is straightforward: an executive already running operations and a named prescription-medicines business now also carries the representative-director title, and the board has tied that change to stronger management and faster decisions. What the filing does not spell out is any further redistribution of duties at the top beyond the titles listed in the notice.