Fumiko Hayashi

is a Japanese politician and the former mayor of Yokohama, the capital of Kanagawa Prefecture in Japan. She is the first female mayor of the city. Her previous roles have included president of BMW Tokyo, president of Tokyo Nissan Auto Sales, and chairperson and CEO of the Japanese supermarket chain Daiei. On taking the chief executive role at Daiei, all of whose executives are men, Hayashi told the Nikkei Weekly: "I thought I would be able to create an example of a success in male-female collaboration." In 2006, Forbes named her the 39th most powerful woman in the world, the highest rank for a Japanese woman. She was elected as mayor of Yokohama in 2009 following the sudden resignation of the former mayor, Hiroshi Nakada, until her defeat at the 2021 Yokohama mayoral election. In July 2022, she was awarded as Honorary Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE), for services to the British Olympic and Paralympic Teams. Private sector career Hayashi entered the workforce upon graduating from Tokyo Metropolitan Aoyama High School in 1965, working at Toyo Rayon (now Toray Industries) a Japanese textile company. She became a salesperson with Honda in 1977, when she was 31. It was rare for a woman in Japan to work for a carmaker, particularly in a sales role. However, in her first year, she was the top-performing salesperson. After ten years at Honda, Hayashi sought a role with BMW Tokyo. Although initially turned down by the company she persisted, writing a seven-page letter to BMW Tokyo, explaining why she should be hired. In 1987, five months after her first approach, the company hired her. Within a month of joining BMW she was the top salesperson in Shinjuku, BMW Tokyo's key showroom. The company later asked her to run the company's weakest Tokyo showroom. She was subsequently headhunted by Fahren Tokyo, which became Volkswagen, to run its flagship dealership in Tokyo. The dealership's annual sales more than doubled during her four-year tenure. By 1999 Fumiko Hayashi had been appointed president of the company. In 2003 Hayashi returned to BMW Tokyo as president. Two years later Hayashi moved from the car industry to retail, becoming chairperson and CEO of The Daiei, Inc., a large Japanese retailer. Her next career move saw her return to the automotive sector as operating officer of Nissan, followed by her appointment as president of Tokyo Nissan Auto Sales in June 2008.