The Daiei, Inc. (株式会社ダイエー, Kabushiki gaisha Daiē), based in Kobe, Hyōgo, is one of the largest supermarket chains in Japan.

In 1957, Isao Nakauchi[1] founded the chain in Osaka near Sembayashi Station on the Keihan train line.

[citation needed] Daiei is now under a restructuring process supported by Marubeni Corporation and ÆON Co., Ltd., another Japanese supermarket chain.

[2] In addition to groceries, Daiei is also a department store, selling electronics, home furnishings, and clothes.

[citation needed] As a part of the series of bootstrap restructuring efforts to avoid filing for IRCJ (Industrial Revitalization Corporation of Japan) support, the company sold its baseball team, the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks, which it purchased from Nankai Railway in 1988 to SoftBank, on January 27, 2005[3] and the company's Hawaii stores in 2006 to Don Quijote Co., Ltd.[4] Through the process of debt restructuring and support given by financial institutions in coordination with IRCJ, the company has been acquired by IRCJ, Marubeni Corporation (a trading company) and Advantage Partners (a private equity house) in 2005.