Sawako Noma
Japanese publisher
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sawako Noma (Japanese: 野間 佐和子, Hepburn: Noma Sawako; 27 July 1943 - 30 March 2011) was a Japanese publisher who was president of Kodansha from 1987 until her death in 2011.
Sawako Noma | |
|---|---|
| 6th President of Kodansha | |
| In office 1987 – 30 March 2011 | |
| Preceded by | Koremichi Noma |
| Succeeded by | Yoshinobu Noma |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 27 July 1943 Tokyo, Japan |
| Died | 30 March 2011 (aged 67) Tokyo, Japan |
| Spouse | Koremichi Noma |
| Parent |
|
| Relatives | Korechika Anami (father-in-law) |
| Education | Seisen University (dropped out) |
| Occupation | Publisher |
Biography
Sawako Noma was born on 27 July 1943 in Tokyo.[1][2] Her father Shoichi Noma was the fourth president of Kodansha.[2] She dropped out of Seisen University to marry Koremichi Noma in 1965;[2][1][3] Noma was a son of war minister Korechika Anami and would later become the fifth president of Kodansha.[2][1]
In 1987, following her husband's death, Noma became the sixth president of Kodansha.[1] She had originally worked as a housewife,[4] and this was her first experience as a businesswoman.[5] By 1990, annual profits of ¥152 billion made Kodansha the largest Japanese company headed by a woman president, which at the time was a rarity at only 4%.[6] In 1996, she became president of the company's English-language division Kodansha International.[2]
Noma was an advocate for promoting literacy, chairing the Japan Council for Promotion of Book Reading.[4] She was part of the National Visiting Storytelling Team initiative, where a van with pictures would tour around thd country for visits to daycare centers and kindergartens.[4] In 1992, she presented Timothy S. Healy with a $1.3 million grant to the New York Public Library, specifically its Asian collections, and Asian lecture series, and the Shoichi Noma Reading Room.[7] She was also chair of the International Culture Forum, Japan Magazine Advertising, and Japan Publishing Club.[1][2]
In 1996, Noma won the Japan Advertising Awards Shōriki Award.[2] She appeared at least three times in Fortune's 50 Most Powerful Women in Business global list in the 2000s.[8][9]
Noma died of heart failure on 30 March 2011 at a Tokyo hospital, aged 67.[1] In addition to a private family funeral,[1] a public funeral was held at Imperial Hotel, Tokyo on 16 May; over four thousand people attended, including Toppan chief executive Naoki Adachi and novelist Yumie Hiraiwa.[10] She was succeeded as president by her first-born son Yoshinobu Noma.[1]