Shimizu, Founder of Japanese Supermarket Chain Life, Dies at 96

Tokyo, Nov. 7 (Jiji Press)--Nobutsugu Shimizu, founder and honorary chairman of Japanese supermarket chain operator Life Corp., died of old age on Oct. 25, it was learned Monday. He was 96.

A native of Tsu, Mie Prefecture, Shimizu founded the predecessor of Life in 1956 after serving in the now-defunct Imperial Japanese Army until the end of World War II.

As company president, Shimizu opened a supermarket in Toyonaka, Osaka Prefecture, in 1961 and the first Tokyo outlet in the capital's Itabashi Ward in 1971.

Concentrating on operations in Tokyo and Osaka, Japan's two biggest consumer markets, he made Life a major superstore chain with annual sales of over 760 billion yen.

Shimizu also headed the Japan Chain Stores Association, in 1986 and in 2011. Furthermore, he established the Japan Supermarkets Association in 1999 and became its first chairman.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]