Isao Nakauchi, founder of the troubled supermarket chain Daiei Inc., has given up the right to represent any of the firms in the group, industry sources said Wednesday.

This means that Nakauchi, once dubbed the king of Japan's retail business, can no longer wield any direct influence within the Daiei group beyond his capacity as a major shareholder.

Nakauchi, who at one point sat atop a Daiei empire with 300 companies and a workforce of 100,000, has already given up all executive positions within Daiei, the supermarket chain he set up in 1957 initially as a drug retailer.

By having Nakauchi relinquish all representative positions, the current Daiei management apparently hopes to mollify Daiei's bank creditors, who have made it clear they want all traces of Nakauchi's influence and his management philosophy removed from the group.

Nakauchi, who will turn 80 next year, has been blamed for leading the Daiei group into its current mess through aggressive business expansion during the bubble economy.

According to informed sources, Nakauchi relinquished his last company-representation position Oct. 10 when he stepped down as supreme adviser of Orange Page, a Daiei-affiliated publisher of women's magazines, as well as board member with the right to represent the company.

He became an ordinary board member at Orange Page without representation rights, a job he may give up next year.

Nakauchi's gradual retreat from Daiei management fits the strategy laid out by Daiei's current president, Kunio Takagi, who faces the tough task of turning Daiei once again into a profitable concern and paring down the group's 2.3 trillion yen in interest-bearing debts.

After taking up his command post at Daiei, Takagi has hoisted a "de-Nakauchi" banner in an effort to convince Daiei's bank creditors that Daiei will focus primarily on the business it knows best: retailing.

Nakauchi started retreating from Daiei management in October last year when he relinquished his position as board chairman and became a board member and supreme adviser.

He resigned from the Daiei board in January and assumed the honorary position as Daiei founder.