Den Fujita

Den Fujita
Born	(1926-03-03)March 3, 1926
Died	April 21, 2004(2004-04-21)(aged 78)
Nationality	Japanese
Occupation	Businessman
Known for	Founder of McDonald's Japan

Den Fujita( đằng điền điền,Fujita Den,March 3, 1926 – April 21, 2004) was theJapanesefounder ofMcDonald'sJapan.

Background

Fujita was born inOsaka, Japanto aChristianmother and father who worked in a foreign company. Fujita, who was entirely ethnically Japanese, was reared differently from most other Japanese children.With a command of theEnglish language,he served as a translator during high school. However, afterWorld War II,Fujita found his life altered by the death of his father and the destruction of his house. Fujita was educated at theUniversity of Tokyolaw school and after graduating in 1951, he decided to work at the importing business he started while attending the university.

McDonald's Japan

After his first McDonald's meal in 1967, Fujita was amazed by its efficiency and popularity. After selling imported bags and shoes, Fujita seized on the opportunity to start McDonald'sfranchisesin Japan in 1971. His strategy for selling McDonald's to the Japanese people involved the following statement: "The reason Japanese people are so short and have yellow skins is because they have eaten nothing but fish and rice for two thousand years... if we eat McDonald's hamburgers and potatoes for a thousand years we will become taller, our skin become white, and our hair blonde."

He opened his first McDonald's inMitsukoshidepartment store inGinza( ngân tọa tam việt ), an upscale district inTokyo, Japan.However, while McDonald's Japan opened its first restaurant in 1971, McDonald's Japan did not begin television advertising and radio advertising until 1973. McDonald's Japan now has 3,800 restaurants, earning revenue of approximately $4 billion a year (60% of the hamburger market). Much of the success was due to the Japanese styled offerings such as theTeriyakiMcBurger (テリヤキマックバーガー) andChicken Tatsuta(チキンタツタ).After building McDonald's presence in Japan and building a net worth of about $1 billion, Fujita retired on March 5, 2003. His ambitions, however, did not recede with age as he predicted that there would be 10,000 McDonald's in Japan by 2010. In December 2003, McDonald's paid $57 million (estimated) for canceling its contract with Fujita & Co. (Fujita's consulting company) along with a $24 million retirement bonus. Fujita's family held a 25% stake in McDonald's Japan until selling it to Longreach private equity fund in 2005. At the time the shares had a market value of $674 million.

Other roles

Fujita served on the board ofSoftbank,whose Japanese founder,Masayoshi Son,once idolized Fujita as a boy. He served as vice-chairman ofToys 'R' UsJapan. Fujita wrote eight books on business strategy. His first book,The Jewish Way of Doing Business,explained thatJewshad taken over the business world and exhorted his readers to use Jewish business methods to become rich themselves. The book was also part autobiography, in which Fujita drew parallels betweenantisemitismand the discrimination he himself faced because of hisKansai dialect.(He also believed thatJewshad settled in Osaka some 1,000 years ago, which was why people from the area were craftier businessmen.) Published the year after Fujita opened his first McDonald's restaurant in Ginza, the book was an immediate success and went on to sell over a million copies.

His own words:

Look, not with your eyes but with your heart and mind. Then, opportunities will find you. (Phàm nhãn には kiến えず, tâm nhãn を khai け. Hảo cơ は thường に nhãn tiền にあり.)

— Den Fujita.

He printed these words on all of writing tablets used in his company.

Death

At the age of 78, Den Fujita died ofheart failureon April 21, 2004. Two days earlier, McDonald's CEOJim Cantalupohad died of aheart attack.After his death, Japanese media wrote about his estate and entrepreneur-advocates subsequently questioned the government about inheritance tax that his heirs had to pay. All his personal property and investments, which were left over from his earnings after paying income taxes, was subject to Japan'sinheritance tax.

Awards and honors

• Business Week:The Stars of Asia Managers (2001)
• Forbes:World's Richest People (1999 - )
• Blue Ribbon Awardfor business achievement fromEmperor Hirohito(1986)

External links

• Business Week:The Stars of Asia Managers
• Japanese Bio
• 2004: World's Richest People - Den Fujita & Family