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5 reasons why Convenience Stores in Japan are Amazingly Convenient

Every single traveller coming to Japan gets astonished by how the Japanese convenience stores are convenient.


In this article, I'm writing about 5 reasons why Japanese convenience store is surprisingly convenient and those services can be a lifesaver for all travellers.


Japanese Convenience Store "Con-bini"


In Japanese, convenience stores are called "con-bini".

If you are looking for convenience stores, you can ask Japanese people like this: 

"Con-bini doko desuka?" 

(Where is the convenience store?)


If you ask the local people, they would first come up with one of below;

  • Seven Eleven
  • Lawson
  • Family Mart


Those 3 most popular convenience stores have almost the same functions and services, so let's take a look at 5 reasons why convenience stores can help you during your stay in Japan.


(from now on, when I say "convenience stores" in this article, it includes those 3 convenience stores generally.)


The reasons why Japanese convenience stores are so convenient are...

  1. ATM available 24/7
  2. SIM card purchases are available 24/7
  3. Lunchboxesx, Sandwiches, etc... available 24/7
  4. Copying, Printing outare  available 24/7
  5. 1€ & 2€ Coffee available 24/7

1. ATM available 24/7

The right one is the  ATM
　

Japanese convenience stores have ATMs.

You can insert your credit card to withdraw the cash in Japanese Yen.


This is pretty normal in many countries so I think I do not need to highlight this point.

Apart from convenience stores, it is pretty hard to find an ATM down the street.


So if you need to use ATM,  you should try to find convenience stores.

If you can not find any convenience stores around you, the possible ATM location would be 

  • Railway Station 
  • Bank Branches
  • Major Supermarkets


2. SIM card purchases are available 24/7


You can purchase pre-paid SIM cards at convenience stores.


You can ask the clerk as below;

"Pre-paid SIM card arimasu ka?"

(Pre-paid SIM card available?)


Also, do not forget the APN setting after inserting your SIM card into the phone.

  1. From the applications tray, touch Settings to open the Settings application. 
  2. Touch More > Mobile Networks > Access Point Names. 
  3. Touch an existing APN to edit it. Or press Menu and touch New APN. 
  4. Enter the APN settings that you obtained from your wireless service provider by touching each setting that you need to edit. 
  5. When you’re finished, press Menu and touch Save. 
  6. If you created a new APN, touch it on the APNs screen to start using it.

(quoted by the Motorola Support Website)


3. Lunch box, Sandwiches, etc... available 24/7


This is really going to be your lifesaver; Japanese convenience stores sell a variety of foods, beverages, alcohol, lunch boxes, and other foods at any time.

For instance, when you arrive at the airport and you are really starving and thirsty.
Then, convenience stores would be the first place to look for.

They will definitely have bottled water and other beverages, and at least some small foods to eat like sandwiches and riceballs.

(I've never seen those 2 out of stock even at the midnight.)

If you are travelling during the autumn or winter season, ODEN will be something interesting food to try out from Conbini.

Please refer to the article Oden is the Japanese street food you can buy from Convenience Stores if you want to know more about ODEN in Japan.

Conbini Oden area. Can't believe everything here is just 100 JPY... 


Especially easy access to alcohol 24/7 would be a big surprise for some of you.

To add the information about alcohol, there is no law forbidding "drinking on the street".


So technically, you can drink on the street or wherever you want, but please be careful not to disturb others.

You want to drink quietly; meaning no loud voice, especially after sunset.


4. Copying, Printing out available 24/7


The printing machine looks like this. 

Japanese convenience stores have copying/printing machines.


If you are to copy or print out some important documents, the convenience store is a great place to go.


You can copy easily from 10 JPY per page, and also you can print it out from your USB stick as well.


When using the printing machine at convenience stores, you do not need to ask the clerk to use it. Just go and use it, it is totally fine.


5. 1€&2€ Coffee available 24/7 


Finally and at last. the COFFEE.


As myself is a serious coffee geek, I can not finish writing without mentioning Japanese convenience stores' coffee.


To say it simply, they sell 100JPY(≒less than 2€) coffee 24/7.

How to buy 100JPY coffee is very simple.

Tell the clerk that you want to buy a cup of coffee like;

EN: May I buy a cup of coffee?

JP:Coffee kuda sai

　　（コーヒーください）


They will ask about the cup size, so you should the hoose one you want.

Generally speaking, convenience stores sell...

  • Black coffee 
  • Cafe latte
  • Café au Lait
  • Americano

 

Black coffee is the cheapest and others are a bit more expensive, but it never exceeds 2€.

If you want to know more about this topic, Seven Eleven coffee in japan. 100 yen coffee in Japan is absolutely amazing., will be the next article to read ;)

If you stay close to Seven-Eleven, trying out the coffee from seven eleven after reading this article will be something fun!


The review of the coffee from Family Mart is a Review of Family Mart coffee in Japan. Is it better than Seven-Eleven coffee?


Both convenience stores have decent-quality coffee.


Try to use CONBINI. It's fun!



I was almost about to forget to mention that you can use a credit card at convenience stores, so don't worry about preparing a huge amount of cash.

 (not for the printing machine. you need cash to insert like a vending machine.)


Hope your next trip to Japan will be smooth and wonderful.

Please leave a comment if you have any questions about CON-BINI.


Cheers to you all!