Lawson chief bets on health, tech as future of convenience

Back in 2014, Sadanobu Takemasu was asked by his boss to go to Lawson, the convenience store chain known for its white milk can logo on a blue signboard. Takemasu thought Ken Kobayashi, then president of Japan's largest trading house, Mitsubishi Corp., was suggesting he go shop at a Lawson store in the basement of their Tokyo office building. Kobayashi had other staff on hand to take care of such mundane errands. "I replied, 'Me?'" Takemasu, 48, said in a recent interview with The Japan Times. Instead of going to the convenience store, however, he was appointed vice president of the national chain.