Merle Aiko Okawara (大河原 愛子) (November 15, 1941-) is a Japanese American businesswoman.
She has worked at the top of major companies like JC Foods, Avon Products, and Ebay.
[3] After graduating from the University of Geneva in 1964, Okawara returned to Japan and worked as an interpreter in French and English (her Japanese wasn't very strong at the time).
Her father and a Californian businessman were working to bring pizza to Japan, but Higa gave Merle the business for a year.
[4] During her time at JC Foods, she successfully grew the business to include six factories in multiple prefectures.