Asako hirooka biography of michael

Japanese businesswoman, banker, college founder, Christian speaker and writer

Hirooka Asako (広岡 浅子, née Mitsui Asako, 18 October 1849 — 14 January 1919) was a Japanese businesswoman, banker, college founder and late in life, a Christian speaker and writer.

Early life

Mitsui Asako was born in Kyoto, the daughter of merchant Mitsui Takamasu. She recalled, as a girl, feeling left out of the education her brothers enjoyed, and being determined after marriage to find a way to learn mathematics, economics, and literature, among other topics.

She hired tutors and read independently. "I set myself to the task with the consent of my husband, who was skeptical of my ability and indifferent to my ambitions."^[1]

Career

After an economic crisis, Hirooka Asako moved beyond her traditional life as a wife and mother to rebuild her husband's family's lost fortunes.^[2] She took charge of a coal mine, started a savings bank, started a life insurance