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Kinokuniya (紀ノ国屋) a high-end Japanese supermarket chain headquartered in Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo. Kinokuniya Co., Ltd. became a wholly owned subsidiary of 
株式会社紀ノ國屋
紀ノ国屋オンラインショップ
* * * {{Japan-stub 1910 establishments in Japan Supermarkets of Japan East Japan Railway Company
East Japan Railway Company
The is a major passenger railway company in Japan and the largest of the seven Japan Railways Group companies. The company name is officially abbreviated as JR-EAST or JR East in English, and as in Japanese. The company's headquarters are in ...
on April 1, 2010.
There is no relationship with retailer and publisher Kinokuniya Books, which too has its head office in Tokyo.
Etymology
The "country" kanji is written in the old character 國 in the company name, and the store name is written with the new character 国.History
Kinokuniya was founded in 1910 (Meiji 43) as a high-end fruit store in Tokyo. Masui Norio, who helped out in thefamily business
A family business is a commercial organization in which decision-making is influenced by multiple generations of a family, related by Consanguinity , blood, marriage or adoption, who has both the ability to influence the vision of the business a ...
, closed the Aoyama fruit store after the material control orders during the Pacific War
The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War or the Pacific Theatre, was the Theater (warfare), theatre of World War II fought between the Empire of Japan and the Allies of World War II, Allies in East Asia, East and Southeast As ...
meant that he could no longer sell high-end fruit, and rebuilt it as a fruit and vegetable store after the war in 1949. Modeled after American supermarkets, the Aoyama store then changed its model from a face-to-face fruit store to a self-service supermarket
A supermarket is a self-service Retail#Types of outlets, shop offering a wide variety of food, Drink, beverages and Household goods, household products, organized into sections. Strictly speaking, a supermarket is larger and has a wider selecti ...
. The company and the National Supermarket Association claim it as "Japan's first self-service supermarket."
In November 2008 the Aoyama store reopened on the basement floor of the Ao Building, which was built on the site of the old store.
References
External links
株式会社紀ノ國屋
紀ノ国屋オンラインショップ
* * * {{Japan-stub 1910 establishments in Japan Supermarkets of Japan East Japan Railway Company