A far, far cry from their American cousins, convenience stores in Japan are without exception, spotless, well-stocked, open 24x7, and are … well, ac

A peek into Japan's Convenience Stores

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2024-09-22 13:00:07

A far, far cry from their American cousins, convenience stores in Japan are without exception, spotless, well-stocked, open 24x7, and are … well, actually convenient.

The internet is full of articles on Japanese convenience stores, about the interesting foods they sell, the services they provide, and how mind blown first-time visitors are.

Japan has over 56,000 convenience stores across its 47 prefectures. These stores sell everything including food, drinks, alcohol, concert tickets, and bus reservations, while also doubling as ATMs, book stores, and even Amazon pick up points. They are clean, bright, welcoming, open 24x7, and safe.

The modern Japanese convenience store is a marvel of logistical and technical efficiency that people (including this author) are blind to till they step out of the country. Just like we don’t give a second thought to our watches despite them being incredibly complex technical wonders, it’s magic that seems mundane.

No accurate records exist to definitively identify the first convenience store in Japan, but most observers mark 1974, when the first 7-Eleven opened in Tokyo, to be the starting point of this story.