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The first time I went to a 7/11 in Japan was on my first trip there with my wife (who is Japanese). We got in late and wanted a quick bite to eat... there was a

The first time I went to a 7/11 in Japan was on my first trip there with my wife (who is Japanese). We got in late and wanted a quick bite to eat... there was a 7/11 next to the hotel and she said "Let's go there!" I scoffed and said that I wanted edible food and she said, just come! So we went and wow, what a difference from American 7/11's, they actually had fresh fruit and vegetables and the boxed sushi rivals what we can get at our nearby sushi restaurant back home. The rice balls are packaged so the Nori is encased in plastic and stays crispy until you open the package... and the Oden by the register looks unappetizing but is actually quite good. And all very reasonably priced.... and the 7/11's had no problem with our American credit card, unlike many small restaurants that only accept cash... fortunately, the 7/11 also has an ATM that works with most major networks. (some of these no-credit-card restaurants will accept a prepaid stored value card like Passmo or Suica) We took the food back to the hotel and realized that we forgot to pick up drinks, fortunately, the hotel had a handy beer vending machine on every floor... mmmm...Suntory Premium Malt... even the canned highballs (whiskey+club soda) are good. We had to cancel our trip to Japan in 2020 due to COVID, and looks like 2021 is out too, hopefully we can return in 2022.

mattl 5y ago
At least here on the East Coast of the US, my local 7-11 has fresh fruit, normal grocery store priced items like black beans, bread, milk. Also a freshly prepared frozen pizza for $6.
- jorvi 5y ago
  > freshly prepared frozen pizza Not to be pedantic, but that is an oxymoron. A pizza can either be freshly prepared or prepared beforehand and frozen in. I think the distinction is important because whilst fresh pizzas are reasonably healthy, deep freeze pizzas are chock full of preservatives and thus aren’t.
  - mattl 5y ago
    I’m not sure. They’re cheap enough that you might be pedantic ;)
cwilkes 5y ago
I loved the rice balls in 7-11’s. That plus a cold one shot saki on a bullet train where everything was neat and tidy was very pleasurable.
- bntyhntr 5y ago
  I usually don't correct spelling but sake* (ends in an eh noise) gets me every time. Totally agree though. Conbini snacks and some canned alcohol were how I traveled on the shinkansen. A very enjoyable ritual :)
fatnoah 5y ago
I went on a business trip to Japan in the early 2000's. On our second night, we had Shabu-Shabu, and didn't realize just how much it was doing to cost. It ended up being about $600 for four of us. In order to stay remotely in budget, we got almost every other meal from a local 7-11, and it was surprisingly good food.

mattl 5y ago

At least here on the East Coast of the US, my local 7-11 has fresh fruit, normal grocery store priced items like black beans, bread, milk. Also a freshly prepared frozen pizza for $6.

jorvi 5y ago
> freshly prepared frozen pizza Not to be pedantic, but that is an oxymoron. A pizza can either be freshly prepared or prepared beforehand and frozen in. I think the distinction is important because whilst fresh pizzas are reasonably healthy, deep freeze pizzas are chock full of preservatives and thus aren’t.
- mattl 5y ago
  I’m not sure. They’re cheap enough that you might be pedantic ;)

cwilkes 5y ago

I loved the rice balls in 7-11’s. That plus a cold one shot saki on a bullet train where everything was neat and tidy was very pleasurable.

bntyhntr 5y ago
I usually don't correct spelling but sake* (ends in an eh noise) gets me every time. Totally agree though. Conbini snacks and some canned alcohol were how I traveled on the shinkansen. A very enjoyable ritual :)

fatnoah 5y ago

I went on a business trip to Japan in the early 2000's. On our second night, we had Shabu-Shabu, and didn't realize just how much it was doing to cost. It ended up being about $600 for four of us. In order to stay remotely in budget, we got almost every other meal from a local 7-11, and it was surprisingly good food.