I joined Daiso at the age of 23 in 1979. At that time, we had no stores, only mobile stalls. I remember that I was asked to go to Miyazaki in Kyushu, but I was involved in a minor car accident. And, it was my first week of working! There weren’t many employees, so my employee number was 5. Our agencies conducted mobile sales as if they were an independent business.

We started importing products from China around 1990. The former president [founder: Hirotake Yano] often said, “Don’t try to make large profits! I’m happy if we can earn our keep! Lay in an inventory of merchandise that will please the customers!” As a result, there was the usual conversation where a customer asked me, “How much is this? A thousand yen?” and I answered, “No, they are all priced at 100 yen.” A dish with a diameter of 30 cm was very popular. I became a buyer of machine shop tools in 1995. My job was not just finding something in China and selling it in Japan. I repeatedly improved products to sell quality goods for 100 yen. I wanted to add value to the products and label them as Daiso Originals when selling them.

One day, I visited a trade fair in China. At first, when I said, “Let me check the item,” and brought out my magnifier, they all laughed. But if you check the tip of a screwdriver closely, you can see what is wrong and coarse. Then, you can point out and fix the problem. Some differences in quality are visible, but many are microscopic. I didn’t want to sell anything that I didn’t like even if it made a profit. That was my policy.