A U.S. body representing Seven-Eleven convenience store owners said Thursday it will seek to work together with Japanese owners on tackling the issue of running 24-hour operations in a tight labor market.

"We want to help (the Japanese franchisees) to get started in lobbying and campaigning and in forming associations," said Jaspreet Dhillon, a senior official of the National Coalition of Associations of 7-Eleven Franchisees, at a news conference in Tokyo.

"We want to join hands with all our international franchisees and work together and learn from each other," Dhillon said at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan. He is on a visit to Japan with other association members to study the situation faced by stores here.