The March 11 earthquake and tsunami have overshadowed the news on March 30 of the death at the age of 67 of leading Japanese businesswoman Sawako Noma due to heart failure.
The daughter of the fourth president of the Kodansha publishing company, she was catapulted from housewife to head of the largest publishing company in Japan in 1987 on the sudden death of her husband, the fifth president of the company.
Particularly active in programs promoting reading among children, she was scheduled to turn over the reins of Kodansha to her son, Yoshinobu Noma, in mid-April.