Convenience stores and vending machines in Japan are some of my favourite things. I’ve made a cheat sheet for every day items.
It might sound strange but the combini (convenience store) is a major part of the visit to Japan.
In most countries in the world – it would only be a very, very brave person who dared to eat a “meal” made up of convenience store food but, in Japan, you can find an entire deli section, salads, bakery goods (all delivered daily), household supplies, sweets, alcohol, frozen foods etc.
You can actually get a healthy lunch on the go – and even heat up a lunch plate afterwards. Here are my tips on healthier convenience store options.
Japanese people also use combinis to pay bills and buy concert tickets.
See here for my similar “cheat sheet” for Japanese vending machines.
I cannot even imagine walking out of an Australian 7-Eleven with a dozen fresh eggs, some firm tofu, a salad and range of dressings and pack assorted sushi & sashimi.
Although I am a big believer that part of the whole “Japan experience” is not knowing what you’re ordering and buying at all times I thought I’d give some handy hints for some of the staples at convenience stores to get you started.
(This is , naturally, a constant work in progress as convenience stores in Japan are constantly changing and moving with the trends. Also , different products are available in different brands of combinis.)
Did you know that you can also charge your pasmo and suica on your phone or apple watch wallet at the ATMs at 7-Eleven in Japan? Tap on “charge/emoney” and then “charge prepaid transaction cards” and then place your phone on the touch pad and choose “charge” on the screen.
MILK & JUICE
FULL CREAM = WHOLE MILK
WATER & DRINKS
HOW TO TELL ALCOHOLIC DRINKS FROM NON-ALCOHOLIC DRINKS
Understandably, many parents don’t want to make a mistake and accidentally buy an alcoholic beverage. The way to tell is alcoholic drinks will have お酒 on the front with a circle around it. Like in the picture below.
BOILED EGGS
Please note that this boiled eggs found in Japanese convenience stores are boiled in just salt – so they are also a great gluten free snack or breakfast on the go in Japan.
Margarine , bread and jam
It is possible to buy white bread, margarine and blueberry or strawberry jam or peanut butter in convenience stores too. ( These are cheaper to purchase in a supermarket but if convenience is your number one priority, this is a good option. You will have additional types of bread to choose from in a supermarket too.)
One of the most popular brands of margarine sold in convenience stores, looks like this :
Ham
Convenience stores sell the perfect amount of ham for when you’re on holidays.
The Famous Egg Sandwiches
These are famous for a reason. They are soooo good and are sold in all major brands of convenience stores.
Cream Cheese
Some convenience stores and most supermarkets sell these KIRI cream cheese snack packs with the little stick crackers.
Chicken sold at the convenience store counters
These are LIFESAVERS (especially if you have picky eaters with you.)
This one pictured below is available at Lawson convenience stores – it is called “Karage-Kun” (pronounced “ka-ra-ge-kun”) and inside contains approx 6 pieces of Japanese fried chicken. Be sure to get the REGULAR flavour and the other option is a bit spicy and one of the other flavours sometimes available contains cheese.
SWEETS
I think the sweets don’t need translation as it adds to the fun. Japanese sweets are very reasonably priced so why not fill a basket with lots of colourful tricks and have a picnic?
Also, Japanese convenience stores are constantly introducing new flavours (of teas, chocolates, chewing gum) for a limited time only. Keep an eye out for promotional stickers for unusual flavours of the season and grab them while you can. Limited time only is written as 期限限定（kigen gentei).
Here are some of my family’s favourite convenience store treats:
Where have coolish been all my life? This is vanilla ice-cream in a pouch! It’s so great to help avoid the mess of an ice-cream cone. You can even replace the lid if you’re not quite finished and pop it in the freezer again! (Other flavours are sometimes for sale during different seasons.)
I also ingenious idea where @brollyknits told me that she has once used it as an icepack for a child’s hurt chin and, at the same time, it was a built-in bribery for holding it there!
Hold the icepack and eat the contents afterwards! Genius!
As you can see from some of the pictures already – my daughter’s favourite are PINO.
They are little mini icecreams sold as a mini set of 6 all covered in chocolate. It is considered to be extra lucky if one or more of the PINO in the pack are star or heart shaped. Pino are also gluten free !
Vanilla Bars from Family Mart are sooo yummy too.
And this is the king of all Icecream bars, in my opinion. The cone outside never gets soggy and it doesn’t melt easily.
The quality of the Icecream is also so good. It’s worth keeping an eye open for additional “limited time only” flavours too.
It’s called a JUMBO.
This is what it looks like on the inside
I am the only one in my family who likes these but I really like these ice-creams called “Black.” They are like a dark chocolate paddlepop to me.
ice-cream/popsicle
And this ice-cream is my favourite of all time (but I only recommend if you like yogurt flavoured items.) It’s called Papico and there are two little ice-cream “bottles” inside. And my favourite is the White Sour flavour.
SAVOURY TREATS FROM JAPANESE CONVENIENCE STORES
Jyagariko , stick-shaped potato crisps. We all like the “salad” (sounds gross but it isn’t) flavoured ones the best.
This flavour and the ones in the blue cup are also gluten free!
My little boy, in particular, adores these little savoury goldfish crackers ( a much lighter and less flavoured goldfish than the U.S. option.)
These little “mini ball” crackers are a little bit sweet and are perfect for toddlers. They are either in my little boys tummy or in between the couch cushions at all times.
My kids LOVE these chicken meatballs from Family Mart.
And my kids also love this “Gold” Hamburg steak from 7-Eleven. For fellow aussies, this is eating really nice juicy beef rissoles. I recommend getting these if you are staying in an apartment hotel with a kitchenette like a Mimaru or an &Here apartment hotel. You can microwave it in the bag (google translate the instructions on the back) and it’s really nice to serve with convenience store microwaveable rice (also in this article.)
These are some other amazing snacks that I love but don’t have any English on the packaging. Like these rice crackers with sweet icing called Yuki no Yado.
And we love Toppo. It’s a pretzel filled with chocolate. It’s so good.
And these vegan curries are for sale at convenience store, Natural Lawson. They also stock vegan soy meat bolognese and carbonara sauce.
Natural Lawson is another brand of convenience store that is known for more “healthy” options (more gluten free and vegetarian options and often more whole grains or organic products etc.)
Also, did you know that most convenience stores in Japan have microwaves for customers to use to heat up the items they just purchased?
Just a warning – these are restaurant grade strength so 10 seconds is like putting something in the normal microwave for a minute!
You can heat up your meal in the microwave and then take it to your hotel room to eat. It’s so so handy with kids.
My kids both LOVE the “meat sauce pasta” from 7-Eleven and Family Mart (the 7-eleven one is their absolute favourite though) so so much.
I do love how in countryside Japan you will also find many stores have to play down their signage so that it doesn’t take away from the feel. Even McDonalds red becomes brown!
This is 7-Eleven in Takayama.
Did you know that you can also charge your pasmo and suica on your phone or apple watch wallet at the ATMs at 7-Eleven in Japan? Tap on “charge/emoney” and then “charge prepaid transaction cards” and then place your phone on the touch pad and choose “charge” on the screen.
SOMETHING TO REMEMBER : The convenience stores have some great bentos and ready made meals – but guess who has EVEN MORE bentos and ready made meals in Japan? Japanese Supermarkets!!!!
