Exterior, logo and signage of SOGO Yokohama

Exterior, logo and signage of SOGO Yokohama

Exterior, logo and signage of SOGO Yokohama=Date:October 12, 2023,Place:Kanagawa

Seibu Ikebukuro workers strike

TOKYO, Japan - Striking workers represented by a labor union at Japanese department store operator Sogo & Seibu Co. march in the streets of Tokyo's Toshima Ward on Aug. 31, 2023. Store workers are opposing plans by parent Seven & i Holdings Co. to sell the 10-store chain to a U.S.-based investment fund.

Seibu department workers strike

Seibu department workers strike

A pedestrian passes by the shuttered flagship Seibu department store in Tokyo's Ikebukuro area on Aug. 31, 2023, amid a labor strike against parent Seven & i Holdings Co.'s planned sale of the 10-store Sogo & Seibu chain to a U.S.-based investment fund.

Seibu Ikebukuro workers strike

Seibu Ikebukuro workers strike

Sogo & Seibu labor union chief Yasuhiro Teraoka (C) is surrounded by reporters during a union rally in Tokyo's Toshima Ward on Aug. 31, 2023. Workers at the Seibu Ikebukuro department store went on strike the same day protesting a planned sale of their company, a first for a Japanese department store in around 60 years.

Seibu Ikebukuro workers strike

Seibu Ikebukuro workers strike

Striking workers represented by a labor union at Japanese department store operator Sogo & Seibu Co. march in the streets of Tokyo's Toshima Ward on Aug. 31, 2023. Store workers are opposing plans by parent Seven & i Holdings Co. to sell the 10-store chain to a U.S.-based investment fund.

Seibu Ikebukuro workers strike

Seibu Ikebukuro workers strike

People supporting a strike called by a union representing workers at Sogo & Seibu Co. hold banners in front of the department store operator's flagship Seibu Ikebukuro store in Tokyo on Aug. 31, 2023.

Seibu Ikebukuro workers strike

Seibu Ikebukuro workers strike

Photo taken on Aug. 31, 2023, shows the Seibu Ikebukuro department store in Tokyo's Toshima Ward. Store workers staged a strike the same day, opposing plans by parent Seven & i Holdings Co. to sell the 10-store Sogo & Seibu chain to a U.S.-based investment fund.

Seibu Ikebukuro department store

Seibu Ikebukuro department store

Photo taken on Aug. 30, 2023, shows the Seibu Ikebukuro department store in Tokyo. A labor union representing workers at Japanese department stores operated by Sogo & Seibu Co. said the same day that members would go on strike at the store to protest a buyout deal by a U.S.-based investment fund.

Seibu Ikebukuro department store

Seibu Ikebukuro department store

Photo taken on Aug. 30, 2023, shows the Seibu Ikebukuro department store in Tokyo. A labor union representing workers at Japanese department stores operated by Sogo & Seibu Co. said the same day that members would go on strike at the store to protest a buyout deal by a U.S.-based investment fund.

Staff fired up for summer gift-giving time

Staff fired up for summer gift-giving time

TOKYO, Japan - Staff at Sogo and Seibu Co. department store in Tokyo fire themselves up on May 20, 2014 to spearhead the summer gift-giving season, the first such season since the consumer taxes were raised on April 1.

New Tiffany branch in Kobe

New Tiffany branch in Kobe

KOBE, Japan - Actress Saki Aibu appears at a ceremony to mark the opening of a new branch of U.S. luxury jeweler Tiffany & Co. at the Sogo Department Store in Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture, on March 10, 2014, wearing some of its jewelry priced at about 530 million yen in total.

New Tiffany branch in Kobe

New Tiffany branch in Kobe

KOBE, Japan - Actress Saki Aibu appears at a ceremony to mark the opening of a new branch of U.S. luxury jeweler Tiffany & Co. at the Sogo Department Store in Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture, on March 10, 2014, wearing some of its jewelry priced at about 530 million yen in total.

Department store puts samurai dolls on show earlier than usual

Department store puts samurai dolls on show earlier than usual

YOKOHAMA, Japan - "Samurai" warrior dolls for Boys' Day in May are put on display at Yokohama Sogo Department Store in Yokohama west of Tokyo on Feb. 25, 2014, one month earlier than usual, to stimulate last-minute demand before an increase in the national sales tax from 5% to 8% in April.

Sogo & Seibu launches new brand for people in 50s

Sogo & Seibu launches new brand for people in 50s

TOKYO, Japan - Models wear clothes of Sogo & Seibu Co.'s new fashion brand targeting men and women in their 50s at the Seibu Ikebukuro department store in Tokyo on Jan. 28, 2014. "Limited Edition Avec Mode" shops will open at Seibu Ikebukuro on Feb. 19 and in early March elsewhere.

Mixxo opens 1st store in Japan

Mixxo opens 1st store in Japan

YOKOHAMA, Japan - Members of the South Korean girl band After School take part in a promotional event at the Sogo Department Store in Yokohama, where South Korean apparel products maker E.Land Co. opened its first Japanese outlet for its Mixxo women's fashion brand, on March 22, 2013.

Noda with children

Noda with children

TOKYO, Japan - Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda (back C) attends a meeting with mothers at the Kodomo Sogo Center child-care facility in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward on Nov. 11, 2012. (Pool photo)

Noda with children

Noda with children

TOKYO, Japan - Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda (R) shares time with children at the Kodomo Sogo Center child-care facility in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward on Nov. 11, 2012. (Pool photo)

Noda with children

Noda with children

TOKYO, Japan - Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda (back L) reads a picture book for children at the Kodomo Sogo Center child-care facility in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward on Nov. 11, 2012. (Pool photo)

Customers at sale after Lotte's victory in Japan Series

Customers at sale after Lotte's victory in Japan Series

CHIBA, Japan - Customers shop at Sogo department store in Chiba, east of Tokyo, on Nov. 8, 2010, at a sale held specially after the Chiba-based Lotte Marines baseball team won the Japan Series title for the first time in five years the previous day, beating the Chunichi Dragons 8-7 in Game 7.

Students to promote manga giant Tezuka's hometown Takarazuka

Students to promote manga giant Tezuka's hometown Takarazuka

KOBE, Japan - Students Ayuko Sogo (L) and Hiroko Sadato are photographed at the cultural and creation center in Takarazuka, Hyogo Prefecture, after being designated as ''tourism ambassadors'' on May 10 to promote the city, which is the hometown of legendary Japanese ''manga'' comic artist Osamu Tezuka.

Sogo flagship store in Osaka to be sold to J. Front

Sogo flagship store in Osaka to be sold to J. Front

TOKYO, Japan - This file photo shows Daimaru department store (front) and Sogo department store (in back) in Osaka's Chuo Ward. Seven & I Holdings Co. said Feb. 26 that it will sell the Osaka flagship store of its group department store operator Sogo Co. to Daimaru Inc., a unit of J. Front Retailing Co., for 37.91 billion yen.

Colorful shoes a hit with elderly people

Colorful shoes a hit with elderly people

TAKAMATSU, Japan - Japanese shoemaker Tokutake Industry Co. President Takao Sogo shows shoes at the company's headquarters in Sanuki, Kagawa Prefecture, on Dec. 8, 2008. Tokutake's shoes, with annual sales reaching some 500,000 pairs, include those with polka dots, unlike many traditional shoes for the elderly. They are also on sale in South Korea and China. Tokutake also tailors shoes so customers including those who have leg disabilities can wear them more comfortably.

Sogo store displays crystal-covered Mercedes

Sogo store displays crystal-covered Mercedes

OSAKA, Japan - Shoppers look at a Mercedes-Benz covered with crystals at Sogo Co.'s flagship department store in Osaka's Chuo Ward on Oct. 28. The car decked out with 300,000 pieces of Swarovski crystal, both inside and outside, will be on display until Nov. 3 as a Christmas decoration.

Going once, going twice: your very own pagoda

Going once, going twice: your very own pagoda

NAGOYA, Japan - This five-story pagoda located at Sedaiji temple in Katsuyama, Fukui Prefecture, will be auctioned off to pay tax arrears owed by the temple's owners -- the now-defunct real estate company Sogo Fudosan and its corporate parent Sogo Taxi. The city of Katsuyama seized the 75-meter-high pagoda and other properties of the temple as liens on overdue property and local corporate taxes. Interested bidders must pay the city a deposit of 350 million yen by Nov. 27. Results of the auction will be announced two days later. Kiyoshi Tada, once known as the ''taxicab king of Kansai,'' built Sedaiji in 1987 as a tourist attraction in his native Katsuyama.

Millennium Retailing's Sano promoted president

Millennium Retailing's Sano promoted president

TOKYO, Japan - Vice President Kazuyoshi Sano of Millennium Retailing Inc., the holding company for Seibu Department Stores Ltd. and Sogo Co., speaks at a press conference after being promoted to president on Feb. 15.

Victory sales begin to celebrate Lotte's Japan Series triumph

Victory sales begin to celebrate Lotte's Japan Series triumph

CHIBA, Japan - Customers form a long line for a ''victory sale'' at the Sogo department store in Chiba on Oct. 27 after the Chiba Lotte Marines baseball team won their first Japan Series title in 31 years the previous day with a 3-2 win over the Hanshin Tigers in Game 4.

Japan firms struggling with post-bubble economic reality

Japan firms struggling with post-bubble economic reality

TOKYO, Japan - Shinsei Bank Pesident Masamoto Yashiro responds to questions at the Diet on failed Sogo Co.'s issues in August 2000.

Seibu, Sogo to integrate business operations

Seibu, Sogo to integrate business operations

TOKYO, Japan - Sogo Inc. President Shigeaki Wada (C) speaks at a news conference in Tokyo on May 12. He announced that his company and Seibu Department Stores Ltd. will create June 1 a holding company, Millennium Retailing, under which the struggling retailers will integrate their business operations.

Sogo launches end-of-year gift campaign to boost sales

Sogo launches end-of-year gift campaign to boost sales

YOKOHAMA, Japan - Employees of the Yokohama branch of Department store operator Sogo Inc. attend a pep rally at a branch in Yokohama's Nishi Ward on Oct. 25 before starting the day's business. Most of Japan's big retailers are about to launch their end-of-year gift campaign.

Shokusan Jutaku seeks court protection from creditors

Shokusan Jutaku seeks court protection from creditors

TOKYO, Japan - Katsuhiko Nishimura, president of Shokusan Jutaku Sogo Co., a leading builder of custom-made houses, attends a news conference in Tokyo on Jan. 13 after the company filed for court protection from creditors the same day with unconsolidated liabilities of 13.5 billion yen.

LDP's TV commercial is popular

LDP's TV commercial is popular

TOKYO, Japan - Photo shows a scene from television commercials of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) featuring Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi that ranked first in a popularity survey for commercials of political parties released July 7 by CM Sogo Kenkyusho, a Tokyo-based consultancy.

Police search ex-Sogo Chairman Mizushima's home

Police search ex-Sogo Chairman Mizushima's home

TOKYO, Japan - Investigators from the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department enter the home of Hiroo Mizushima, former chairman of failed department store operator Sogo. Co., in Tokyo's Setagaya Ward on May 23 to search for evidence in connection with suspicions he hid personal assets from creditors.

Creditors OK Sogo rehabilitation plan

Creditors OK Sogo rehabilitation plan

TOKYO, Japan - Photo shows officials of creditor banks and suppliers to the failed department-store chain operator Sogo Co. entering Tokyo's Hibiya Public Hall on Jan. 31. More than 90% of the attendants agreed to a package of plans to reconstruct Sogo, featuring plans to reduce the number of outlets from 22 to 13 and rebuild the surviving 13.

Former Sogo Chairman Mizushima denies lawsuit charges

Former Sogo Chairman Mizushima denies lawsuit charges

TOKYO, Japan - Hiroo Mizushima, former chairman of faltering department store operator Sogo Co., meets the press Nov. 2 after appearing in a Tokyo court to defend himself in damages suits brought against him and 18 other former Sogo executives by the store's management. ''In no sense whatsoever was there any illegality involved,'' he said.

Former Sogo vice president found hanged at home

Former Sogo vice president found hanged at home

KOBE, Japan - A van (C) carrying the body of Yukio Nakazawa, former vice president of ailing department store operator Sogo Co., leaves his home in Nishinomiya, Hyogo Prefecture, on Oct. 10, where he was found hanged earlier in the day. Nakazawa, 74, was one of the firm's former executives targeted in damages suits filed by Sogo, which is seeking 11.25 billion yen in compensation for alleged dubious deals with affiliated companies and an aborted plan to set up an outlet in Turkey.

Shoppers throng to Sogo's Singapore store before closure

Shoppers throng to Sogo's Singapore store before closure

SINGAPORE - Shoppers flock to failed Japanese department store operator Sogo Co.'s Singapore store on Sept. 29 for a final sale before the shop closes Sept. 30. The store was selling women's garments at 3 Singapore dollars a piece.

Sogo's Tokyo store closes after 43 years

Sogo's Tokyo store closes after 43 years

TOKYO, Japan - Failed department store operator Sogo Co. on Sept. 24 closes its flagship store in Tokyo, capping the Yurakucho outlet's 43-year-long history. An in-store broadcast saying ''Yurakucho Sogo now ends all business'' was heard at 7 p.m. as store manager Masayuki Shiina and sales clerks lined up at the main entrance to hand out paper bags containing artificial flowers to customers leaving the store.

Bargain hunters flock to Sogo's Tokyo store for last sale

Bargain hunters flock to Sogo's Tokyo store for last sale

TOKYO, Japan - Bargain hunters flock to the Yurakucho store in Tokyo of failed department chain operator Sogo Co. as it closes its doors for the last time Sept. 24. Sogo has decided to close the Yurakucho store as well as ones in Kisarazu, Chiba Prefecture, and Nagano as part of its rehabilitation plan.

Shoppers flock to Sogo's Yurakucho store for closing sale

Shoppers flock to Sogo's Yurakucho store for closing sale

TOKYO, Japan - More than 2,000 shoppers line up Sept. 3 before the doors opened at failed department store operator Sogo Co.'s Yurakucho outlet for the start of a 15-day going-out-of-business sale. The giant Osaka-based retailer decided to close the 43-year-old store on Sept. 24 as part of its rehabilitation plan. The Sogo group filed for protection from creditors with the Tokyo District Court in July, saddled with 1.87 trillion yen in debt.

Sogo to build new main store in Osaka

Sogo to build new main store in Osaka

TOKYO, Japan - Shigeaki Wada (C), special adviser to Sogo Co., the failed department-store operator seeking court-mandated rehabilitation, speaks at a news conference in Tokyo on Aug. 23. Wada, who assumed the post as a step toward becoming president, said Sogo will build a new main store in Osaka in one or two years after demolishing the existing one.

Sogo to close Yurakucho store at end of Sept.

Sogo to close Yurakucho store at end of Sept.

TOKYO, Japan - Sogo Co., a failed department store operator seeking a new life under court protection, will close its store in Yurakucho (shown in this file photo), in central Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward, at the end of next month, company sources said Aug. 23. The store, opened in May 1957 as Sogo's first in the Tokyo metropolitan area, has recently suffered sharp falls in sales due partly to competition with nearby department stores.

Shinsei to forgive loan to troubled builder Hazama

Shinsei to forgive loan to troubled builder Hazama

TOKYO, Japan - Masamoto Yashiro, chairman and chief executive officer of Shinsei Bank, speaks in an interview with Kyodo News on Aug. 10. Yashiro said the bank will forgive a loan to financially troubled contractor Hazama Corp. Shinsei, formerly the nationalized Long-Term Credit Bank of Japan, caused a stir in June when it refused to give up claims on loans to ailing department-store operator Sogo Co.

Sogo ex-chairman's personal assets to be frozen

Sogo ex-chairman's personal assets to be frozen

TOKYO, Japan - File photo shows Hiroo Mizushima, former chairman of Sogo Co., whose personal assets the Tokyo District Court decided to seize on Aug. 2. The legal action had been sought by the Industrial Bank of Japan, the main bank of the failed department store chain operator Sogo, in a bid to collect a loan Mizushima personally guaranteed.

Mori responds to opposition in Diet

Mori responds to opposition in Diet

TOKYO, Japan - Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori (standing) responds to a question from Naoto Kan (L), policy chief of the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan, during a meeting of the House of Representatives Budget Committee on Aug. 2. The opposition asked Mori how the government intends to respond to ailing companies seeking forgiveness of their outstanding loans. Failed department store operator Sogo Co. recently made such a request.

Lower house panel holds heated deliberations on Sogo collapse

Lower house panel holds heated deliberations on Sogo collapse

TOKYO, Japan - Kimitaka Kuze, chief of the Financial Reconstruction Commission, on July 17 responds during intense deliberations at the House of Representatives Committee on Finance on the collapse of major department store operator Sogo Co. Sitting right is Finance Minister Kiichi Miyazawa. Saddled with debts of 1.87 trillion yen, Sogo filed for court protection July 12 in the face of growing public criticism of its original rehabilitation scheme that would have involved the use of taxpayers' money to waive part of its debts.

Sogo closes 3 branch outlets

Sogo closes 3 branch outlets

TOKYO, Japan - Customers read a ''closedown notice'' at the entrance to the Tama store of department store operator Sogo Co. in Tama, Tokyo, on July 13. The debt-laden group shut down three of its 27 retail outlets in Japan, while letting two of the three launch bankruptcy proceedings with local courts.

Sogo seeks court-mandated restructuring

Sogo seeks court-mandated restructuring

TOKYO, Japan - Kyoichi Yamada (R), president of financially troubled department store chain operator Sogo Co., and two of his colleagues bow from the waist at a news conference in Tokyo on July 12. Yamada said his company filed with the Tokyo District Court for protection from creditors, aiming to seek rehabilitation.

Gov't forgives part of Sogo's 200 bil. yen debts

Gov't forgives part of Sogo's 200 bil. yen debts

TOKYO, Japan - (From L to R) Vice President Tadashi Natori and President Kyoichi Yamada of Sogo Co. bow their heads at a news conference June 30 after the state-run Deposit Insurance Corp. (DIC) announced it will purchase and forgive part of 200 billion yen in loans to the ailing department store operator.

Sogo reports big capital deficit

Sogo reports big capital deficit

TOKYO, Japan - The photo shows Kyoichi Yamada (R), president of financially beleaguered department store Sogo Co., announcing at a news conference at the Tokyo Stock Exchange on April 26 that its capital deficit increased sharply to about 580 billion yen at the end of the 1999 business year. Yamada and all other top management will step down when the company's rehabilitation gets fully on track.

Sogo to ask banks to forgive loans

Sogo to ask banks to forgive loans

TOKYO, Japan - Kyoichi Yamada, president of Sogo Co., reads from a sheet of paper at a news conference in Tokyo on April 6. In an unprecedented move in Japanese corporate history, Yamada said his company will ask creditor banks to forgive claims on loans worth 639 billion yen.