81:. He was the son of Ryohei and Katsu Wada, who opened a grocery store in Atami a year after his birth. In the difficult years after World War II, his mother Katsu defeated the odds to turn the family business into a success, and reportedly inspired the popular Japanese television series
57:). He took over his parents' small grocery chain in the 1950s and spent the next four decades growing Yaohan into a global company with annual sales of 500 billion yen at its peak. However, Yaohan was unable to sustain its heavy loss and debt burden during the
168:
After Yaohan's bankruptcy, Wada became almost penniless, surviving only on his pension. To avoid the media, he lived at a relative's home for a while. He spent his time reading biographies of world leaders such as
99:
in 1951, and later took over the family business from his mother. He grew the grocery chain into a chain of department stores, and became
President of Yaohan in 1962. He later brought the company public on the
152:
In
September 1997, Yaohan filed for bankruptcy with liabilities of 160 billion yen (US$ 1.5 billion); it was at the time Japan's largest post-war corporate failure. Yaohan Japan was restructured by
111:, Brazil, and began an aggressive series of international expansion, which coincided with the rapid growth of Japan's own economy. In 1974, he opened the first Yaohan store in Singapore at
137:
department store, which was the largest in Asia. At its peak, the company had branches in 16 countries in Asia, Europe, and North and South
America, with annual sales of 500 billion yen.
396:
391:
285:
376:
317:
386:
366:
145:
Wada financed Yaohan's rapid growth largely by taking on a massive amount of debt. In 1997, when Japan's asset bubble had burst and the
371:
173:, which inspired him to turn around his life and put his lessons to good use. In 2000, he founded a management consulting company in
381:
206:
61:
and declared bankruptcy. Almost penniless, Wada spent his later life running a consultancy for young
Japanese entrepreneurs.
146:
58:
126:
Wada moved Yaohan's headquarters from Japan to Hong Kong in 1989. He bought the
Skyhigh, a mansion on top of the
238:
361:
356:
101:
74:
149:
hit East and
Southeast Asia, Yaohan incurred major losses and was unable to refinance its debt.
325:
96:
42:
37:
was a
Japanese businessman, the effective founder and chairman of the defunct multinational
174:
112:
177:, aiming to help young entrepreneurs deal with failure, which is stigmatized in Japan.
350:
170:
127:
160:
Tokai in 2002. Wada was forced to sell his Hong Kong mansion for HK$ 375 million.
108:
286:"Kazuo Wada, former chairman of bankrupt Japanese retailer Yaohan, dies aged 90"
38:
329:
181:
134:
157:
318:"Kazuo Wada, former chairman of collapsed retailer Yaohan, dies at 90"
120:
116:
46:
153:
83:
78:
70:
184:, Shizuoka Prefecture, aged 90. He was married to Kimiko.
107:
In 1971, Wada opened the first overseas Yaohan store in
130:, as his residence, at a price of HK$ 85 million.
95:Wada graduated from the Faculty of Economics of
30:
51:
24:
8:
180:On 19 August 2019, Wada died at his home in
239:"Greengrocer on the Peak who shed his skin"
207:"Kazuo Wada, Ex-Yaohan Chief, Dies at 90"
193:
279:
7:
397:21st-century Japanese businesspeople
392:20th-century Japanese businesspeople
312:
310:
308:
306:
277:
275:
273:
271:
269:
267:
265:
263:
261:
259:
237:Mathewson, Ruth (21 November 1997).
232:
230:
228:
201:
199:
197:
14:
377:Japanese expatriates in Hong Kong
16:Japanese businessman (1929–2019)
69:Kazuo Wada was born in 1929 in
284:Sim, Walter (30 August 2019).
115:, and later added branches in
1:
77:, a hot springs resort near
387:People from Atami, Shizuoka
367:Businesspeople in retailing
133:In 1995, Yaohan opened its
59:1997 Asian financial crisis
31:
413:
372:Japanese chief executives
52:
25:
243:South China Morning Post
35:, 1929 – 19 August 2019)
382:Nihon University alumni
147:Asian financial crisis
156:and later renamed as
102:Tokyo Stock Exchange
75:Shizuoka Prefecture
324:. 29 August 2019.
290:The Straits Times
404:
341:
340:
338:
336:
314:
301:
300:
298:
296:
281:
254:
253:
251:
249:
234:
223:
222:
220:
218:
213:. 29 August 2019
203:
97:Nihon University
55:
54:
43:department store
36:
34:
28:
27:
412:
411:
407:
406:
405:
403:
402:
401:
347:
346:
345:
344:
334:
332:
322:The Japan Times
316:
315:
304:
294:
292:
283:
282:
257:
247:
245:
236:
235:
226:
216:
214:
205:
204:
195:
190:
175:Iizuka, Fukuoka
166:
143:
113:Plaza Singapura
93:
67:
22:
17:
12:
11:
5:
410:
408:
400:
399:
394:
389:
384:
379:
374:
369:
364:
359:
349:
348:
343:
342:
302:
255:
224:
192:
191:
189:
186:
165:
162:
142:
139:
92:
89:
66:
63:
15:
13:
10:
9:
6:
4:
3:
2:
409:
398:
395:
393:
390:
388:
385:
383:
380:
378:
375:
373:
370:
368:
365:
363:
360:
358:
355:
354:
352:
331:
327:
323:
319:
313:
311:
309:
307:
303:
291:
287:
280:
278:
276:
274:
272:
270:
268:
266:
264:
262:
260:
256:
244:
240:
233:
231:
229:
225:
212:
208:
202:
200:
198:
194:
187:
185:
183:
178:
176:
172:
171:Deng Xiaoping
163:
161:
159:
155:
150:
148:
140:
138:
136:
131:
129:
128:Victoria Peak
124:
122:
118:
114:
110:
105:
103:
98:
90:
88:
86:
85:
80:
76:
72:
64:
62:
60:
56:
48:
44:
40:
33:
21:
333:. Retrieved
321:
293:. Retrieved
289:
246:. Retrieved
242:
215:. Retrieved
210:
179:
167:
151:
144:
132:
125:
106:
94:
82:
68:
50:
19:
18:
362:2019 deaths
357:1929 births
335:1 September
295:1 September
248:1 September
217:1 September
39:supermarket
351:Categories
211:Nippon.com
188:References
164:Later life
141:Bankruptcy
65:Early life
32:Wada Kazuo
20:Kazuo Wada
330:0447-5763
182:Izunokuni
109:São Paulo
135:Shanghai
158:MaxValu
328:
121:Jurong
117:Katong
91:Career
47:Yaohan
45:chain
154:Jusco
84:Oshin
79:Tokyo
71:Atami
26:和田 一夫
337:2019
326:ISSN
297:2019
250:2019
219:2019
119:and
41:and
53:八百半
353::
320:.
305:^
288:.
258:^
241:.
227:^
209:.
196:^
123:.
104:.
87:.
73:,
29:,
339:.
299:.
252:.
221:.
49:(
23:(
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.