The news that the discount department store chain Jusco made money last year while its two perennial competitors sank deeper into the red was met with surprise by the media. One can get a handle on how the press views the former underdog by reading this week's Aera, in which it describes the three-way rivalry as one between "excellence" (Ito-Yokado), "charisma" (Daiei) and "a wishy-washy image" (Jusco).

Jusco's also-ran reputation was founded mainly on its deceptively modest ambitions. Both Daiei and Ito-Yokado have worked hard to make themselves into urban fixtures that were convenient to public transportation and that carried pretty much everything you needed, from food to hardware to clothing. Jusco has always been seen strictly as an inaka (rural) operation, which meant it didn't have to be convenient to public transportation. Easy-access parking lots encouraged shoppers to drive and, thus, buy more.

Consequently, Jusco's lower prices are justified by the low overhead. Land, the priciest commodity on the archipelago, is not as much of a burden for Jusco as it is for the other two. More importantly, because of Jusco's locations, there was little competition to get in the way of profit-making.