Isatsugu Sugahara, president of leading box-lunch caterer Tamagoya Co., runs his fingers across a stained, worn-out calendar, looking for a little circle he drew years ago. His fingers stop at May 12, 1982, the day his life changed forever.
At around 9 a.m. that day, Sugahara got a phone call from a major shipbuilder, his biggest corporate client at the time.
The caller told him the "bento" lunches Tamagoya had delivered to the company the day before were tainted with bacteria. Hundreds of people who had eaten the food were complaining of stomachaches and rushing to the company's infirmary.