Japan may be America's best ally in the Pacific rim, but that doesn't necessarily mean that the two countries share all that much, culturally. I've traveled in Japan, and I've spent quite a lot of time working and visiting the Land of the Rising Sun. My wife speaks and reads Japanese, I've spent months working on projects there in my previous career, and between the two of us, we'd like to think that we have a pretty good bead on Japan, the people, and the culture. We'd like to think that - but Japan has a way of throwing us for a loop now and then.
On my first visit there, though, I fell in love with the place. The people are generally warm and friendly, the countryside is beautiful, and even the cities are clean, accommodating, and safe. The food is good, the beer is good, and the nightlife in Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka I can attest is fun and varied. But one thing I learned very quickly was that, unlike in America, you can get a really good meal in a convenience store, and you can get out of it for under 500 yen ($5, more or less) if you're picky.
Take, for instance, the Japanese 7-Eleven stores:
The shop is well lit; the floor, pristine. The welcoming aroma of freshly fried chicken and steamed pork buns wafts through the air. Customers pop in to snag on-the-go comfort foods such as savory onigiri and creamy egg salad on squishy white bread. It’s a scene that plays out hundreds of times a day at more than 21,000 7-Eleven locations across Japan, where the convenience stores inspire almost cultlike loyalty.
That's true. In Japan, the onigiri - rice balls usually stuffed with chicken, fish, or other proteins, are ubiquitous in Japanese convenience stores, they are delicious and cheap. Ditto for the steamed pork buns - and the fried chicken is amazing.
Why don't American 7-Elevens measure up?
There’s “a pretty big gap” between the 7-Eleven locations in Japan and the North American ones when it comes to food offerings, says Lea El-Hage, a consumer analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence.
To be sure, Seven & i’s chief executive officer, Ryuichi Isaka, has made some changes around the edges in the US. He’s tapped the retailer’s main supplier, Warabeya Nichiyo Holdings Co., to stock its American shelves with more fresh food and hot meals.
Most of this is likely cultural. American 7-Elevens are increasing their hot food selections, but they are still big on roller hot dogs, taquitos, greasy chicken, and pizza. That's fine; the stores, we supposed, serve what their customers want.
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But man, oh man, could the American stores do a lot better.
It's not just the 7-Eleven stores in Japan that are like this, by the way. My favorite Japanese convenience store chain is Lawson, which has the best chicken of any convenience store in Japan. Circle K also has stores all over Japan, and there is the Asian Family Market chain which is also amply represented. They all have plenty of tasty and healthy food that's perfect for the diner on a budget.
And there's more - in Japan, you can not only buy an ice-cold beer in these same stores, but you can open it outside and drink it while you're walking back to your apartment or hotel room.
Japan's a great place. I couldn't live there permanently; I'm too much of a red-state (and RedState) American for that. But I do love to visit.
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