8 ms·

A peek into Japan's convenience stores (Part 2)

54 points by kizunajp 3y ago

kizunajp 3y ago
Hello HN! On my previous post (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36110833#36123339 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36110833#36123339) many people encouraged me to write about Japan's convenience stores. I set out to write and it was so interesting I just _had_ to create a Part 2. I hope you have as much fun reading it as I had writing it! Thank you!
jaipilot747 3y ago
Glad to see the part 2. Part 1 generated some interest on HN too - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36277962 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36277962
snowman56789 3y ago
That bento looks amazing for 5 dollars! It really can't be that cheap and look this good.
- kizunajp 3y ago
  It is! Not exactly the same bento, but take this one from FamilyMart for example - https://www.family.co.jp/goods/obento/0616225.html https://www.family.co.jp/goods/obento/0616225.html It is 498 yen (3.57 USD) and that is taxes included!
- csa 3y ago
  It is.
- spike021 3y ago
  In my experience the cheapest convenience store bentos in japan are roughly equivalent to slightly better than fast food Japanese in California. And usually the price is much different too. Like 500 yen, which in America might be $4.50 or so, but the equivalent in America (or California at least) would cost maybe 3x as much. I joke about it with a Japanese friend I made on one of my trips. There's a Japanese family restaurant chain that has some locations in California (Yayoi). In japan it's just another family restaurant where you can get reasonably priced meals (maybe up to 1500 yen but I haven't been in a few years) and in America the same restaurant easily charges $20-25 for regular meals. Food tends to be very economical in Japan, at least to me as a visitor.
  - midoridensha 3y ago
    Restaurant food in America is just hideously expensive, once you factor in the 20% tip that's expected. Even before tip it's very expensive. It's not just Japan; every developed nation outside North America has much more reasonable prices for eating out.
    - johnwalkr 3y ago
      I live in Western Europe and convenience stores and fast food has become really expensive, except for bread. A 500mL coke and premade salad or other lunch menu can easily set you back €10. McDonalds is almost €15 and even a kebab is usually over €10 now.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- musicale 3y ago
  $20 takeout or counter pickup lunch is unfortunately a thing in multiple US cities. On the up side, airport pricing doesn't seem so shocking anymore.
jschveibinz 3y ago
Some back story on the Lawson brand in Ohio: As a child growing up in NE Ohio in the 60’s and 70’s, I used to ride my bike to the local Lawson store to buy candy, gum or a bottle of “pop.” Lawson was generally a clean, small and friendly neighborhood store with a limited selection of items. My parents would stop in on the way home from work or an outing to buy milk and bread or an evening snack. They had very good ice cream, and their onion chip dip was amazing—folks in NE Ohio still miss that dip (although a similar version is available at Circle-K now). There was a classic Lawson TV commercial for their orange juice. The juice was squeezed in Florida and delivered to Ohio in refrigerated tank trucks “in 40 hours.” The trucks were labeled “Big-O” and the freshness of the juice was a big selling point. Here’s a link to the commercial on YT: https://youtu.be/B7r6A6YQdtI https://youtu.be/B7r6A6YQdtI I believe most Lawson stores were run by families: husband and wife. My parents had friends who ran one for their entire careers and lived a decent middle class lifestyle. The Lawson success story in Ohio pretty much ended when Consolidated Foods bought the company. But big changes were happening then anyway. I always found it to be so strange that someone in Japan would buy the rights to the name since it was really just a regional brand. When I went to Tokyo on vacation, seeing the logo on stores that look (and smell) nothing like the originals was a strange experience for me. Thanks for the article!
- drumhead 3y ago
  Its one of the big three out there, along with 7-11 and Family Mart.
  - spike021 3y ago
    There are other smaller chains as well. I think I saw more MiniStop (sp.?) in Sapporo than Lawsons or Family Mart. But those three are definitely the biggest.
    - rjh29 3y ago
      SeicoMart is the one exclusive to Hokkaido. It's great!
Blackthorn 3y ago
I wish here in the USA we could get convenience stores even close to how good they are in places like Japan and Thailand. Why do they get 7-11: The Good Version?
- csa 3y ago
  This was not a small part of my reverse culture shock when I moved back to the US. Cheap, ubiquitous, and tasty food available 24/7 has a lot of merits. Not to mention there are no blue laws in Japan that limit when alcohol can be sold.
  - Blackthorn 3y ago
    On the bright side, at least I can buy fruit without being super wealthy. What you lose on the swings you gain on the roundabouts, I guess.
    - rendaw 3y ago
      What fruit is so expensive in Japan?
      - mejutoco 3y ago
        Not an expert, but from what I saw: fancy peaches sold individually and melons. These are supposed to be good gifts to bring as a guest.
        wizofaus 3y ago
        They're definitely exceptional cases, but in general tropical fruit (mangos, pineapples, even bananas) can be up to two or three times the price you might be used to paying in the US (or even Australia - not sure what it's like now but when I was in the US 15 years ago I remember bananas being especially cheap even in supermarkets - here you generally have to go to dedicated fruit/veg markets to get fresh produce cheaply).
talkingtab 3y ago
Be aware, the site says "for subscribers only"
- gnfargbl 3y ago
  Subscription is free, though.
  - purplecats 3y ago
    time and effort are costs
    - wahahah 3y ago
      It's gratis, perhaps.
WeylandYutani 3y ago
Things have improved in my country since Christianity went out the window and supermarkets were allowed to open on Sunday/Christmas but Japan's 24/7 economy is out of this world! "Money never sleeps pal"
- midoridensha 3y ago
  Japan is not a "24/7 economy". The konbini are 24/7, but they're the only places that are. The trains shut down at ~1AM, and most stores and restaurants close at 9PM or so. 24/7 places are really an exception.
meatjuice 3y ago
> Japanese speakers have a penchant for brevity. Long words get shortened to 3 or 4 syllables. True > 7-Eleven (“sebun irebun”) becomes “sebu-ire”. I don’t think so. We, in most cases, use “seven (se-bu-nn)”instead.
- kizunajp 3y ago
  Ha this might just expose which part of Japan I'm from :) If you read Japanese: https://ima.goo.ne.jp/column/article/2059.html https://ima.goo.ne.jp/column/article/2059.html tl;dr: It's shortened differently in different parts of Japan. Sebun in Kanto, Sebu-ire in Kansai. Hilariously, there is apparently a small number of people who call it "BunBun"
theaudacityofyw 3y ago
Thanks for this. Read parts 1 and 2 and I wish you could still get a konbini bento for 500 yen ;-;
TT-392 3y ago
I went to Japan with some friends for 3 weeks, and we just couldn't figure out how these stores are stocked, we didn't see any familymart, 7 eleven or lawson trucks. At some point we just kinda assumed everything was stored frozen in the back, but the article's line: "Lunch is a busy time at the konbini. Konbinis have large scale operations that deliver fresh bentos (lunch boxes) to stores" refutes that assumption. I guess maybe the trucks they use just aren't branded? Maybe we just were never in the right place at the right time?
- kizunajp 3y ago
  The majority of nonperishable items are restocked during the midnight shift. Fresh items do get delivered during the day. Search for コンビニ配送トラック and you'll see branded trucks doing deliveries.

54 points by kizunajp 3y ago

Hello HN! On my previous post (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36110833#36123339 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36110833#36123339) many people encouraged me to write about Japan's convenience stores. I set out to write and it was so interesting I just _had_ to create a Part 2. I hope you have as much fun reading it as I had writing it! Thank you!

jaipilot747 3y ago

Glad to see the part 2. Part 1 generated some interest on HN too - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36277962 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36277962

snowman56789 3y ago

That bento looks amazing for 5 dollars! It really can't be that cheap and look this good.

kizunajp 3y ago
It is! Not exactly the same bento, but take this one from FamilyMart for example - https://www.family.co.jp/goods/obento/0616225.html https://www.family.co.jp/goods/obento/0616225.html It is 498 yen (3.57 USD) and that is taxes included!
csa 3y ago
It is.
spike021 3y ago
In my experience the cheapest convenience store bentos in japan are roughly equivalent to slightly better than fast food Japanese in California. And usually the price is much different too. Like 500 yen, which in America might be $4.50 or so, but the equivalent in America (or California at least) would cost maybe 3x as much. I joke about it with a Japanese friend I made on one of my trips. There's a Japanese family restaurant chain that has some locations in California (Yayoi). In japan it's just another family restaurant where you can get reasonably priced meals (maybe up to 1500 yen but I haven't been in a few years) and in America the same restaurant easily charges $20-25 for regular meals. Food tends to be very economical in Japan, at least to me as a visitor.
- midoridensha 3y ago
  Restaurant food in America is just hideously expensive, once you factor in the 20% tip that's expected. Even before tip it's very expensive. It's not just Japan; every developed nation outside North America has much more reasonable prices for eating out.
  - johnwalkr 3y ago
    I live in Western Europe and convenience stores and fast food has become really expensive, except for bread. A 500mL coke and premade salad or other lunch menu can easily set you back €10. McDonalds is almost €15 and even a kebab is usually over €10 now.
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
musicale 3y ago
$20 takeout or counter pickup lunch is unfortunately a thing in multiple US cities. On the up side, airport pricing doesn't seem so shocking anymore.

jschveibinz 3y ago

Some back story on the Lawson brand in Ohio: As a child growing up in NE Ohio in the 60’s and 70’s, I used to ride my bike to the local Lawson store to buy candy, gum or a bottle of “pop.” Lawson was generally a clean, small and friendly neighborhood store with a limited selection of items. My parents would stop in on the way home from work or an outing to buy milk and bread or an evening snack. They had very good ice cream, and their onion chip dip was amazing—folks in NE Ohio still miss that dip (although a similar version is available at Circle-K now). There was a classic Lawson TV commercial for their orange juice. The juice was squeezed in Florida and delivered to Ohio in refrigerated tank trucks “in 40 hours.” The trucks were labeled “Big-O” and the freshness of the juice was a big selling point. Here’s a link to the commercial on YT: https://youtu.be/B7r6A6YQdtI https://youtu.be/B7r6A6YQdtI I believe most Lawson stores were run by families: husband and wife. My parents had friends who ran one for their entire careers and lived a decent middle class lifestyle. The Lawson success story in Ohio pretty much ended when Consolidated Foods bought the company. But big changes were happening then anyway. I always found it to be so strange that someone in Japan would buy the rights to the name since it was really just a regional brand. When I went to Tokyo on vacation, seeing the logo on stores that look (and smell) nothing like the originals was a strange experience for me. Thanks for the article!

drumhead 3y ago
Its one of the big three out there, along with 7-11 and Family Mart.
- spike021 3y ago
  There are other smaller chains as well. I think I saw more MiniStop (sp.?) in Sapporo than Lawsons or Family Mart. But those three are definitely the biggest.
  - rjh29 3y ago
    SeicoMart is the one exclusive to Hokkaido. It's great!

Blackthorn 3y ago

I wish here in the USA we could get convenience stores even close to how good they are in places like Japan and Thailand. Why do they get 7-11: The Good Version?

csa 3y ago
This was not a small part of my reverse culture shock when I moved back to the US. Cheap, ubiquitous, and tasty food available 24/7 has a lot of merits. Not to mention there are no blue laws in Japan that limit when alcohol can be sold.
- Blackthorn 3y ago
  On the bright side, at least I can buy fruit without being super wealthy. What you lose on the swings you gain on the roundabouts, I guess.
  - rendaw 3y ago
    What fruit is so expensive in Japan?
    - mejutoco 3y ago
      Not an expert, but from what I saw: fancy peaches sold individually and melons. These are supposed to be good gifts to bring as a guest.
      - wizofaus 3y ago
        They're definitely exceptional cases, but in general tropical fruit (mangos, pineapples, even bananas) can be up to two or three times the price you might be used to paying in the US (or even Australia - not sure what it's like now but when I was in the US 15 years ago I remember bananas being especially cheap even in supermarkets - here you generally have to go to dedicated fruit/veg markets to get fresh produce cheaply).

talkingtab 3y ago

Be aware, the site says "for subscribers only"

gnfargbl 3y ago
Subscription is free, though.
- purplecats 3y ago
  time and effort are costs
  - wahahah 3y ago
    It's gratis, perhaps.

WeylandYutani 3y ago

Things have improved in my country since Christianity went out the window and supermarkets were allowed to open on Sunday/Christmas but Japan's 24/7 economy is out of this world! "Money never sleeps pal"

midoridensha 3y ago
Japan is not a "24/7 economy". The konbini are 24/7, but they're the only places that are. The trains shut down at ~1AM, and most stores and restaurants close at 9PM or so. 24/7 places are really an exception.

meatjuice 3y ago

> Japanese speakers have a penchant for brevity. Long words get shortened to 3 or 4 syllables. True > 7-Eleven (“sebun irebun”) becomes “sebu-ire”. I don’t think so. We, in most cases, use “seven (se-bu-nn)”instead.

kizunajp 3y ago
Ha this might just expose which part of Japan I'm from :) If you read Japanese: https://ima.goo.ne.jp/column/article/2059.html https://ima.goo.ne.jp/column/article/2059.html tl;dr: It's shortened differently in different parts of Japan. Sebun in Kanto, Sebu-ire in Kansai. Hilariously, there is apparently a small number of people who call it "BunBun"

theaudacityofyw 3y ago

Thanks for this. Read parts 1 and 2 and I wish you could still get a konbini bento for 500 yen ;-;

TT-392 3y ago

I went to Japan with some friends for 3 weeks, and we just couldn't figure out how these stores are stocked, we didn't see any familymart, 7 eleven or lawson trucks. At some point we just kinda assumed everything was stored frozen in the back, but the article's line: "Lunch is a busy time at the konbini. Konbinis have large scale operations that deliver fresh bentos (lunch boxes) to stores" refutes that assumption. I guess maybe the trucks they use just aren't branded? Maybe we just were never in the right place at the right time?

kizunajp 3y ago
The majority of nonperishable items are restocked during the midnight shift. Fresh items do get delivered during the day. Search for コンビニ配送トラック and you'll see branded trucks doing deliveries.