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Daimaru

Japanese department store chain

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 1, 2026
Entity authorityQ3012112 ↗
Source-derived summary

Daimaru (大丸) is a Japanese department store chain, principally located in the Kansai region of Japan. The chain is operated by Daimaru Matsuzakaya Department Stores, a subsidiary of J. Front Retailing. At one time Daimaru was an independent company, The Daimaru, Inc. (株式会社大丸), headquartered in Chūō-ku, Osaka.

It has been a member of the International Association of Department Stores from 1962 to 1982. As of 2016, Daimaru had seven stores in Japan, and employed about 3,000 people.

History

Daimaru traces its history to Dai-Monjiya, a dry goods store in Kyoto founded by Shimomura Hikoemon Masahiro in 1717. The name "Daimaru" was first used for a store in Nagoya called Daimaruya, which opened in 1728.

The chain was incorporated in 1907 and reincorporated as Daimaru Dry Goods K.K. in 1920, changing its name to Daimaru in 1928. For several years in the 1960s, Daimaru was the largest retailer in Japan.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Daimaru” as japanese department store chain. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Daimaru, Japanese and department.

Editorial reviewA practical starting point whose main value is the path it opens into stronger specialist and primary sources. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1962, 1982, 2016, 1717—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1717. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Daimaru, Japanese and department providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Daimaru”, the useful work is to connect “japanese department store chain” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 1, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q3012112. VIAF identifies the subject as 153428050. 1 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1962, 1982, 2016 and 1717.

Critical limits

Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
Verify next

The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Daimaru”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Daimaru primary sources, Daimaru archive and Daimaru research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Daimaru”?
  2. Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
  3. What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Daimaru” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.