The Bankrupt American Brands Still Thriving in Japan

North American visitors to the shopping corridors of Tokyo and Osaka may be surprised to find brands they’d written off as dead at home. In between the Uniqlos, Lawsons, Tokyu Hands, and other domestic chains that dominate the streets of Japanese cities, you’ll see American names that you’ll recognize from the nearest dead or dying mall: Toys ‘R’ Us, Tower Records, Barney’s, and Dean & Deluca. They echo U.S. chains that have been gone bankrupt in their homeland and yet survive, even thrive, in Japan and other Asian markets.

What gives, an American tourist—or at least this tourist, who recently traveled to Kyoto and Tokyo—wonders? At least according to four experts on the Japanese retail industry, there are as many explanations as there are chains living out what seem to be second lives.