Convienience of the Konbini

The konbini, (コンビニ) is a Japanese word meaning convenience store. These konbini are found all over Japan. Unlike convenience stores in America, konbini in Japan have a much larger variety of items. Konbini are smaller versions of Wal-Marts in America, with the same amount of items packed tightly in shelves along the walls. In konbinis you can find food for dinner, lunch, and dessert; masks, items for first aid kits, chap stick, magazines, manga, and shelves of 100 yen snack foods (right now 100 yen is a little less than a dollar).


In Japan, a popular reliable chain of konbini is 7 Eleven. These always have an ATM (which is very helpful for tourists) and are usually kept clean with high quality goods. However, every konbini I’ve been in was kept very clean and had very high quality items. The food (especially the sandwiches) were made in such a way that it seemed like they put quality over quantity, and valued the customer.

This is a konbini:

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One of the most interesting things that’s carried in konbini are the types of bread, or pan (パン). There are many types of bread in Japan. It’s often eaten as a lunch food (since it’s high in calories to be a snack), but the variety of breads amazed me. There’s the curry bread that’s a circle of dough filled with spicy curry (called kare pan); my favorite sweet chocolate chip melon bread (called choco melon pan); sausage bread (so-se-ji pan); and the most interesting of all, the yakisoba roll. The yakisoba roll is a hoagie or a hot dog bun filled with noodles in special type of sauce, or yakisoba. There’s also veggies on top, and it’s a popular savory food in Japan.

Below is a picture of Yakisoba roll for sale in Japan. To the right of it is a ham and potato sandwich bread, and to the left of it is an egg salad roll: 

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