During the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, about 16,000 media representatives from all over the world came to Japan. One thing that caught the eye of Devin Harlow, a reporter for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), was the excellence of Japanese convenience stores. Mr. Harlow, who attended the opening ceremony wrote “7-11. What would I do without you”, and described the convenience stores as follows.
“It’s 2:10 a.m. in Tokyo after 18 hours of Olympic coverage and the stores are still open! The shelves are well stocked. What a wonderful place!”
This is very true. You can find everything you need at convenience stores in Japan. Freezer meals, frozen fruit and vegetables, bento meals, sweets and ice creams and desserts, drinks of all kind, including alcohol, eggs, butter and yoghurt. There are also baking ingredients such as flower and sugar, and other products such as sanitary items, dental care items, stationary and more. They also have ATM machines if you need to withdraw money in a pinch.
You can even eat reasonably healthily from a convenience store, for example: a piece of cooked chicken (not fried), a pre-made salad, a banana, a Greek yoghurt and a “purin” for dessert.