According to Kanai, “it’s like we’ve taken the corner in a game of Othello”. MUJI is performing well in China. Not only is the number of shops on the rise, with the flagship being the 121st store and with plans to reach 128 shops within the year, but sales at existing shops from March through November increased 20% over the previous year as well.

With the development of the flagship store, many other store types are being considered. The company aims to hit a target of “1,000 shops in China in the future”, spreading its network like reversing disks in Othello.