When the “Project X” series from Digital Manga Publishing arrived in the mail I mistook it for a sports manga about car racing, since first volume has a race car on the cover. When I saw that volume two was the Cup O’Noodle story (called “Cup Noodle” in Japan), DMP had my attention.

Have you ever taken a business class? Business textbooks are filled with anecdotes about successful companies and winning strategies - Project X series is like that. Each volume is like a Food Network show, “The Secret Life of Cup O’Noodles”- except about business.

Cup Noodles of Volume 2 aside, Volume 3 is really the bee’s knees. I had no idea that the history of Seven Eleven could be so awesome, and I’m not saying that ironically.

As a Japanophile I’m aware that there is a Seven Eleven on nearly every corner in Japan. Seven Elevens in Japan do not sell slurpees, but they do sell a wide variety of things you can’t get at a Seven Eleven in the States, like manga, toys, and vending machine cell phones. Why is Seven Eleven, an American store, so much more successful in Japan? The Project X book explains, in a stirring story of cultural exchange and business success.

Businessmen Toshifumi Suzuki and Hideo Shimizu are sent to the United States in the 1960’s to find the next revolution in the world of retail. After a long and lonely trip (by bus!) across the country, Shimizu stumbles across Seven Eleven, and is certain that “convenience stores” are the next big thing.

Most small Japanese stores at the time were either extremely tiny and family owned, or incredibly large department stores. Shimizu and Suzuki have a hard time selling their idea in Japan, until young newlywed Kenji Yamato offers up his family-owned liquor store after reading an article about Seven Eleven in a newspaper. Suzuki and Shimizu and their team are responsible for Kenji Yamato family’s future.

The first year of the flagship Seven Eleven store in Japan is filled with difficulties that the Seven Eleven team counters with innovation. For example, Yamato’s store is less than half the size of a typical American convenience store. In order restock the refrigerator without getting in the way of customers, the team invents a cooler that can be opened from the back. These coolers are so commonplace now, in every gas station and deli in the United States – that I rarely think about them. I had no idea they were invented in Japan!

The artwork of the Seven Eleven story is not particularly remarkable. It’s very straight forward and realistic. There are profiles of the characters in the front of the book, and in the back there are 11 pages of extra material, including an essay by Kenji Yamato, the original store owner (he still works there store today!), a few pages of photographs, and a detailed timeline. This kind of supplemental material is also included in the Cup Noodle book.

There is a repeating sequence of panels throughout the book which I found cute. It basically goes like this: Businessman blushing; a dubious store owner looking critical; followed by the businessman shouting, “Our company is trying to start a retail revolution in Japan!” It’s pretty great. I was legitimately emotionally moved while reading this book, which seems odd to say about Seven Eleven.

I’m not sure what the audience might be for the Project X series in the U.S.. Business school students? I supposed you could write several essays based on ideas or themes in any one Project X book. The stories behind Seven Eleven and Cup O’Noodle were pretty interesting, but I received free review copies. I’m not sure I would have dropped $12.95 to read about Seven Eleven, even after reading my own glowing review of the book (which fell through a wormhole from the future). I think this is one for the libraries.