ABSTRACT
The paper explores the Mystique Theory of Japanese Market by analyzing cases of foreign-affiliated retail companies that have entered the Japanese market. As a result of the case studies, three conclusions are drawn. The first identifies three generic hurdles that foreign-affiliated retail companies face in a host country. The second conclusion is that a sufficient condition of success for the foreign-affiliated companies is the need to learn from their failures, to adapt and to change their business models in Japan. The third conclusion is concerned with a potential reason why failed foreign-affiliated companies failed to learn form their experiences in Japan.
