[5] He attended Ube High School and later Waseda University, graduating in 1971 with a bachelor's degree in economics and political science.
[6] His uncle was an activist for the minority group known as Burakumin, who have continued to suffer caste-based discrimination in employment and marriage in modern Japan.
[7] In 1971, Yanai started in business by selling kitchenware and men's clothing at a JUSCO supermarket.
[8] Yanai opened his first Uniqlo store in Hiroshima in 1984,[6] and changed the name of his father's company Ogori Shoji to Fast Retailing in 1991.
"[9] In 2019, Yanai stepped down from the board of Softbank after 18 years as an independent director at the Japanese technology conglomerate.