Uniqlo, the no-frills clothing store that took the retail trade by storm in the late '90s, saw its fortunes take a nose dive after the turn of the century. The company has attempted to remedy the problem of poor sales with an expanded product line. However, the chairman has decided that what the company really needs is a change in personnel policy.
On Tuesday at 10 p.m., TV Tokyo's business documentary show, "Dawn of Gaia," looks at Uniqlo's new personnel development manual, which was inspired by a junior high-school track-and-field coach who transformed a group of violent teenagers into Japan's No. 1 junior high-school athletics team. His secret is to treat his charges as individuals with their own original needs and responsibilities. The program shows how Uniqlo has adopted these ideas and focuses on a 25-year-old female store manager who is benefiting from the policy.
On May 22, the Hollywood epic "Troy" opens in Japan. The movie offers a version of the Trojan War chronicled in Homer's "The Iliad," which for centuries was considered a legend. However, in 1870, German archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann discovered stone walls and battlements in an area near the Aegean Sea. These buried ruins are now considered to be the ancient city of Troy.