Conbini Franchises in Japan

For those of who wonder about Conbini (konbini, コンビニ) or convenience store franchises in Japan, here is the list. The order below is according to sales as of April 2011 from Japanese Wikipedia.

1. Seven Eleven セブンイレブン

Take a look at this Seven Eleven TV commercial featuring members of AKB48, the idol girls unit consisting of 48 girls, all of whom competed for one of the treasured spots in this popular song and dance troupe. "AKB" is the term of abbreviation of AKihaBara. Akihabara is the huge shopping district in Tokyo catering to anime, electronics and gaming fans; it is also commonly called "Akiba". If you want to learn more, do an internet or YouTube search of Akihabara or AKB48).

The enterprise of Seven Eleven in Japan, Seven and Ai, also runs Ito Yokado (supermarkets) and Sogo/Seibu (department stores).

2. Lawson　ローソン

This is a commercial advertising the everyday goods they sell. From this ad you can see what the inside of a Japanese convenience store looks like.

The enterprise of Lawson is run by Daiei group, currently owned by Mitsubishi, a long time supermarket franchise chain. The English Wiki says Lawson originated in Ohio, USA. It seems there are no stores like this in the US now -- but about 10,000 of them are in Japan!

3. Family Mart ファミリーマート Nickname: Famima ファミマ


The enterprise of Family Mart, Seiyu group, is another supermarket franchise chain which currently consolidated with Itochu. It also owns am/pm, another convenience store franchise which looks a lot like a typical US convenience store.

The above three businesses each have about 10,000 franchise stores in Japan. Lawson and Family Mart are nationwide. I see Seven Eleven everywhere in Tokyo but it may not be in some other areas. There are quite a few local franchise chains as well but some of other major almost-nationwide franchises are:

- Circle K Thanks サークルKサンクス
- Ministop ミニストップ: this franchises have an eat-in corner in the store.
- Daily Yamazaki デイリーヤマザキ: this franchise business is run by a long-run bakery manufacturer Yamazaki Pan ("pan" means "bread" in Japanese). Lots these franchises used to be bakeries. So the tradition has carried on; they still sell bakery goods today.

I see convenience stores in Japan often at the spot where a bakery-sweets shop, liquor store or cigarette shop used to be. The stores selling cigarettes used to be a government licensed businesses (I think it is still but selling cigarettes used to be a government-run monopolized business in Japan) and each store had to be a certain distance from another store. It often was a tiny spot with an Obaasann (old lady) inside with a Neko (cat) over the counter, that was a typical scene of a Tabako-ya (tabaco shop) in Japan. Since the 70's vending machines gradually taken the place of such Tabako-ya businesses. I doubt most young people even know of these businesses. They may not even know the word. Now, most vending machines with cigarettes and alcohol drinks in Japan require an IC card to prove the age of the buyer. It is not very convenient for me as a short time visitor, but there are convenience stores everywhere so I can always drop in at one of them. Many train and bus stations usually have at least one shop for selling these items and most of them likely have at least one convenience store.

However, once I was with my family, I had a hard time. I used to live there but the area had changed quite a bit while I was away. I found vending machines but had no IC card, so I couldn't get a pack of cigarettes. (Yeah, I should quit smoking but it's not the subject here.) Anyway, I walked around a long time and decided to go to the train station area since they have a few Conbini around there. I took the way I used to walk to the station. The landscape very much changed but then I remembered there was a Tabako-ya up the street, so I walked on. There, in the same spot as in my fading memory, I found a perfect Tabako-ya with Obaasan and Neko.

I was too young to visit her store when I walked there everyday so I never knew her and the store at all, but it was right there as the everyday scene which always just passed by in the corner of my eye. The Obaasan, very tiny, about the same size as her sitting on her knees over the counter (well, I probably need an explanation here too. Over the tiny store counter, there is a rather tiny tatami room. Obaasan and Neko are sitting there together on the tatami floor, not on a chair). She let me come in and view the inventory section of the tiny store, talking about the weather and stuff for traditional greeting, explaining the brands I am no longer familiar with, thanked me so many times for buying a pack of cigarettes. I felt, I should pay more for this wonderful customer service! I wish I could have stayed there longer.... really.

Convenience store clerks in Japan are generally very polite and nice, which I like, but they are trained to act in accordance with a strict manual. I respect the manual working well but a tiny complaint I have about it is, the less than human communication, especially for non-regulars. Everywhere they give me the same set of words. They really sell convenience which is good and I like it but sometimes, I'd love to have personal atmosphere a bit more.

Well, if I were to encounter it during my morning commute, I'd surely lose patience with the Obaasan's long talking and slow motion exchange of merchandise and money. But the good thing is, such personal slow businesses still exists in Japan. I'll show you more of both -- "slow business" and "fast business" -- in future posts.