Obituaries

Hirotake Yano, Founder of 100-Yen Store Chain Daiso, Dies at 80

Yomiuri Shimbun file photo
Hirotake Yano, founder of Daiso (photo taken in December 2022

Jiji Press

12:10 JST, February 20, 2024

Hiroshima (Jiji Press)—Hirotake Yano, the founder of Daiso Industries Co., the largest 100-yen store chain operator in Japan, died on Feb. 12 due to heart failure. He was 80.

A funeral for Yano was held only by close family members. Separately, a gathering to commemorate him will be held later.

Yano, who was born in China, founded the “Yano Shoten” store in 1972. He incorporated the business in 1977 and started to operate “100-Yen Shop Daiso” brand discount stores in the second half of the 1980s.

Under the leadership of Yano, Daiso Industries, based in the city of Higashihiroshima, Hiroshima Prefecture, western Japan, opened its first overseas shop in Taiwan in 2001 and has since expanded its business globally, aiming to support infrastructure for daily lives for people around the world.

Yano became chairman of the company in 2018 and stepped down from the post in 2019.