[70th Anniversary] The 'Distribution Revolution' That Began in Himeji 1 Year Before Daiei's Founding

Ginbil Store Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Himeji City, Hyogo Prefecture; President: Kenji Otsuka) will celebrate its 70th anniversary on May 15, 2026. Predating the founding of Daiei by a year, the company introduced the 'self-service system' in Himeji in 1956, marking its path as a pioneer in the history of Japanese distribution. To commemorate this milestone, we will unveil the interactions between founder Shigeki Otsuka and leaders who modernized Japan's retail industry, such as Isao Nakauchi (founder of Daiei) and Shinji Shimizu (founder of Life), as well as our origins as 'one of the oldest supermarkets in Japan'.

'The Future of Shopping' born in Himeji, one year earlier than Daiei On May 15, 1956, the same year the Economic White Paper declared 'It is no longer the post-war era,' Ginbil Store Co., Ltd. was born in Himeji. At a time when over-the-counter sales were the mainstream in Japan's retail industry, the company introduced the 'self-service system,' where customers select products themselves, and 'one-stop shopping,' where shopping is completed in one place, at an extremely early stage in Japan. This was a pioneering challenge, boasting the second oldest history among existing supermarkets in Japan.

Bonds with the pioneers who created the era: Interactions with Mr. Nakauchi and Mr. Shimizu The business leaders of the time who aspired to modernize Japan's distribution interacted deeply across corporate boundaries. According to the testimony of Advisor Okada (86), the brother-in-law of founder Shigeki Otsuka who knows the enthusiasm of those days, Otsuka had a deep connection with Daiei founder Isao Nakauchi as 'comrades-in-arms' who survived the harsh war together. During the dawn of Daiei's founding, Mr. Nakauchi himself visited Ginbil Store's store