by Tadashi Ikuta and Namoi Kimura

At a time when giant department stores and supermarkets dominated the Japanese retail industry, two businessmen, Toshifumi Suzuki and Hideo Shimizu, discovered a new type of small retail store flourishing in America - the Seven Eleven. Called a "convenience store," it was a concept new to the Japanese. Intrigued by this new idea and convinced that it would also succeed in Japan, the two men put together a project team of fifteen members (all virtual novices to the retail trade) to bring this venture across the Pacific. Staking his entire livelihood, young storeowner Kenji Yamamoto volunteers to convert his family-owned liquor store into the first seven eleven in Japan. The hardship of negotiations, the oil shock and the struggle to cope with inadequate space were all met with quick thinking and resolve, culminating in Japan's retail revolution!