Shoichi Ueno, co-owner of the Asahi Shimbun, died of lung cancer at a hospital in Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo, on Feb. 29, it was recently learned. He was 79.

According to the newspaper, Ueno was a great-grandson of Riichi Ueno, who jointly set up the newspaper in Osaka with Ryuhei Murayama in 1879.

Ueno joined the daily in 1962 and held managerial and executive posts in the advertising, sales and international sections of the paper's Tokyo head office. He became co-owner in 1997.

A ceremony to celebrate Ueno's life is set to be held April 22 in the Peacock Room on the second floor of the Imperial Hotel's main building in Chiyoda Ward.

The ceremony will start at noon and will be organized by a committee headed by Asahi Shimbun President and CEO Masataka Watanabe.