In this pioneering study of the development of the Asian department store, economists, sociologists, anthropologists and historians examine various aspects of retailing, business organization, networking and consumerism in the expanding economies of Asia. While focusing on the cultural histories of China, Japan, Hong Kong, and the overseas Chinese in Australia in the formation and shaping of Asia's 'universal providers', this book presents a unique perspective on the way in which department stores such as Wing On, Sincere, Seibu and Yao-han were gradually transformed into multinational enterprises during the 20th century. This intriguing volume shows convincingly why the department store, originally a Western form of enterprise, became a predominately and distinctively Asian institution in the decades after World War Two. This interesting study explains why the great department stores of Japan and China are unsurpassed in world retailing today as arbiters of taste and fashion. Tom Havens, Prof. of History, University of California, Berkeley