Japan's "Big Three" Convenience Stores

Above, a FamilyMart in Asakusa. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

When strolling just about anywhere in Japan, there is usually a convenience store handy.

The "big three" of convenience stores in Japan are 7-Eleven, Lawson and FamilyMart. I've been to all three. Some may ask, "What's the difference between them?"

Live Japan has just the answer.

They begin with:

From busy downtown areas to sleepy rural villages, convenience stores are a common sight in Japan, open 24 hours a day and 365 days a year. The three big names of Japanese convenience stores are 7-Eleven, FamilyMart, and Lawson, dominating the city centers. You won’t only find snacks, boxed lunches, and freshly brewed coffee but also alcoholic drinks, everyday items, and a lot more in these stores. During the night, they even act as a drop-in spot for the police and services like mail reception, ATMs, multifunctional printers, and free-to-use toilets make convenience stores indispensable for Japanese daily life.  

But what is the difference between the difference convenience stores? We’re taking a thorough look at Japan’s “Big Three” and their different services, brands, and more.

To read more, go here. 

Seven-Eleven Japanese Stores To Include English In Labeling

Above, a Seven-Eleven store beneath a Denny's restaurant in Asakusa. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Foreign visitors to Japan who stop at convenience stores to pick up a snack are often perplexed about what a prepared food item contains.

Seven-Eleven Japan Co. is doing something about it. They are going to label products in Japanese and English.

According to Kyodo News:

Seven-Eleven Japan Co., the country's largest convenience store chain operator, will start selling onigiri rice balls and some other prepared foods with labels carrying product names in both Japanese and English from the new year. 

Seven-Eleven Japan President Kazuki Furuya said during an interview with Kyodo News on Thursday that the measure is in response to requests from foreign tourists, whose number has been soaring and is expected to rise further ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics. 

"More foreign customers will be using convenience stores in Japan in the future," Furuya said, adding he hopes foreign tourists' visits to Seven-Eleven stores in Japan will lead to a stronger brand power of the company in the United States, China and Southeast Asia where it is opening more stores. 

According to the company, the number of foreign visitors purchasing products at its stores has been growing in big cities and popular tourist destinations.

To read more, go here. 

Get To Know Japan's Convenience Stores

Above, an Asakusa Family Mart. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

One of the most handy places to pick up a few essentials (and non-essentials) in Japan are their convenience stores. There's usually one within walking distance from wherever you're at.

Japan Info has an article on Japan's three main convenience stores and what can be bought there. The three are Seven-Eleven, FamilyMart and Lawson's. Of the three, I like Lawson's the best.

They start with:

People who have been to Japan and have attested to the country’s impressive convenience store lineup aren’t exaggerating. 

Japanese convenience stores, or “konbini” in Japanese, have tons of surprises that will make your first, second, and perhaps even third visit a “wow moment” experience. The presence of these shops is no longer limited to urban areas but even to small towns in the countryside. If you are planning to stay in one of the major cities, then it will most definitely be an advantage for you to know the three major go-to convenience stores that are open 24-7 and provide a great food selection ranging from main meals to desserts. Whether it’s a late-night snack, a quick bite or a trip to buy some basic toiletries, these konbini giants have you covered.

To read more, go here. 

Top 5 Japanese Convenience Stores

Above, an Asakusa FamilyMart convenience store. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

A nice thing about Japan is the numbers of convenience stores (known as konbini in Japan) around the country. I've made plenty of use of them over the years.

GaijinPot takes a look (actually, their second look) at the top five konbini stores.

They wrote:

Whether you’ve decended into full-fledged konbini dependency or just a light user, Japan-dwellers always seem to have an allegiance to a certain brand. We offered a list of our Top 5 convenience stores in Japan a few years ago, but it’s time to revisit our stance.

We took a quick poll of where our staff stands on this issue and the results were, well, impassioned. Comments escalated from, “Whatever happened to ‘Am/Pm?’” (bought out by Family Mart in 2009) to “Daily Yamazaki and Mini-Stop are the worst!”

So enough with the small talk — here are our five favorite convenience stores in 2017 (in descending order).

To read more, go here.

Seven-Eleven Develops Fast Duty-Free Checkout System

Above, a Seven-Eleven store in Ueno, Tokyo. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

It is not surprising when new innovations are introduced in Japan. They also never cease to amaze.

The latest is a new checkout system by Seven-Eleven Japan Company.

According to The Japan Times:

Convenience store operator Seven-Eleven Japan Co. said it has developed a checkout system that can finish duty-free procedures in five minutes, against the 15 the 20 minutes it takes to process such purchases manually. 

The Seven & I Holdings Co. unit plans to introduce the system at 1,000 domestic outlets, mostly in tourist spots, by the end of this month and have 3,000 in operation by the end of next February. 

The system can instantly be changed into a duty-free transaction mode, and all a store clerk has to do is scan the buyer’s passport and follow ordinary checkout procedures. It means foreign visitors will no longer have to fill in forms.

To read more, go here.

Current Blog Post Pick-ups

The fine folks at The Japan Daily have picked up several blog posts for sharing with their readers.

They include:

To read The Japan Daily, go here.

Seven-Eleven Japan Starts Duty-free Service For Foreign Tourists

Oh thank heaven! Seven-Eleven Japan Co. has started duty-free service for foreign tourists at two of its stores.

According to Kyodo News:

Seven-Eleven Japan Co. on Monday started exempting foreign visitors from paying consumption tax at two of its shops, becoming the first convenience store operator in Japan to launch the service to attract more foreign travelers. 

The service was launched at Seven-Eleven stores in Tokyo's Asakusa district and Kyoto's Ukyo Ward, both popular tourist spots. The company will further expand the tax-free shops in areas that draw large numbers of tourists from abroad.

 To read more, go here.

Japan's Top 5 Konbini

Above, Newdays at Harajuku Station. They seem to have a monopoly at train stations, according to the article. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

It seems there's a convenience store on just about every block in Japan. Maybe not on every block, but at least within easy walking distance.

The convenience stores I've been to in Japan, such as Lawson's, 7-Eleven and others, carry the same things (and sometimes more) as do the convenience stores in the United States. But, unlike the U.S. convenience stores, the Japanese ones don't seem to overprice their goods. I've found their goods to be priced reasonably.

Gaijinpot.com has an article on the top five convenience stores. Most, if not all, of them I've shopped at.

The article begins with:

In fact, convenience stores are so convenient that they are even called ‘konbini’ so you don’t have to waste time pronouncing those extra two syllables. The best thing is that there are lots of different brands of konbini all trying to be more convenient than the other in an epic contest of economization across Japan. 

So, I have carefully compiled a ranking of my own top 5 konbinis, mostly based on personal tendencies towards disorganization and being bad at cooking. 

 To see what "the top five are," go here.

6 Blog Posts Picked Up

The Japan Daily has picked up several blog posts from the past 24 hours.

They are:

To read The Japan Daily, go here.

Japan Convenience Stores Offering Print Services For Maps and Photos

Above, a Seven-Eleven convenience store in Ueno, Tokyo. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Japan has many convenience stores to choose from. They are in constant competition with each other and that competition drives them to offer more services than the other.

Convenience stores range from Seven-Eleven, Lawson's, Am-Pm, FamilyMart and Circle K, among others.

Now, they are offering printing services aimed at foreign tourists.

According to The Japan News (Yomiuri Shimbun):

Major convenience store chain operators are competing to provide a wider variety of services, including map and photo printing, by installing multifunction copiers at their outlets. 

Since late April, Seven-Eleven Japan Co. has been providing a new service that allows customers to print A3-sized maps of 43 sightseeing spots in the nation—including Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, and Gion, Kyoto Prefecture—for ¥100 each. The service is targeted at tourists.

The other convenience store companies have responded by offering similar services at their outlets.

Many customers have also been using the Seven-Eleven printer machines to print photos taken with their smartphones.

To read the full article, go here.