Lawson, a Mitsubishi Corporation venture
in convenience stores, continues to reshape Japanese retailing.
Most recently, it announced an alliance with fellow Mitsubishi
company Nippon Oil, Japan's largest oil company. Lawson
and Nippon Oil will collaborate in developing hybrid retail
outlets that combine self-service gasoline pumps--which
remain something of a novelty in Japan--with convenience
stores.
Mitsubishi Corporation is Lawson's largest
shareholder, with a 30.1% stake, and the convenience store
chain's young (for Japan) president, 44-year-old Takeshi
Niinami, hails from Mitsubishi Corporation. Innovative
initiatives have driven rapid growth for Lawson, and the
chain comprises some 7,600 outlets throughout Japan (as
of April).
You can fill up your gas tank, now, at a neighborhood
Lawson. And you can find Lawson outlets at lots of surprising
venues, like banks and post offices. 
