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 * World
 * Obituaries


PIONEER HELPED TURN HER FAMILY STORE INTO JAPAN’S BIGGEST RETAILER


CHIZUKO KOJIMA, WHO HAS DIED AT 106, BUILT SUPERSTORE CHAIN AEON CO. ALONGSIDE
HER YOUNGER BROTHER

CHIZUKO KOJIMA IN 2006, WHEN SHE WAS 90 YEARS OLD.

Photo: Junji Yoshino/Toyo Keizai
By
Chieko Tsuneoka
June 23, 2022 12:14 pm ET

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TOKYO—First her father died young, then her mother, then her older sister. At
23, Chizuko Okada inherited the job of running her family’s clothing store in
Mie prefecture, Japan.

It was 1939, and war with America was just around the corner. Few could have
foreseen that the little business would develop into Japan’s largest retailer by
sales—or that a woman would be its driving force.


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