At your convenience

In just 50 short years, the konbini has established itself as a beacon of Japanese culture both at home and abroad. MAX VEENHUYZEN explores the past, present and potential of Japan's ubiquitous convenience stores.

- MAX VEENHUYZEN

WHEN KENJI YAMAMOTO OPENED JAPAN'S first 7-Eleven in 1974, his goal was to reinvent his family's Tokyo liquor store. Mission accomplished. And then some.

The success of Yamamoto's gamble helped pave the way for an industry that, in 2024, saw customers spend 11 trillion yen across Japan's 56,000 konbini: the shortened form of the Japanese word, “konbiniensu sutoru”.

As its name suggests, a good konbini is convenient and accessible: a one-stop shop providing essential goods and services ranging from document printing to luggage-forwarding. Food and drink, naturally, are key offerings, especially once 24-hour trading started in 1975. This move was a game-changer, not just for locals who could buy snacks, groceries and alcohol around the clock, but also for tourists.

“Konbini are great during those first few days of a trip when you're jet-lagged,” says Australian-Japanese author, Emiko Davies. “You can always find one, no matter what time of day or night.”

In 2024, an estimated 37 million visitors hit Japan. Two such visitors were Caryn Ng and Brendan Liew, the duo behind Melbourne Japanese cafe and pop-up Chotto and authors of Konbini (Smith Street Books, $50): a paean to convenience store culture told through stories, photography and recipes for konbini favourites.

“We've always wanted to do something on konbini because they're such a big part of Japanese life,” says Liew who works at Warabi at W Melbourne. Their previous book, Tokyo Up Late included a single chapter on konbini, “but we felt that it could have been so much more and even encompass a whole book.”