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Coffee, sandwiches, underwear, beer: a day in the life of Japan's konbini

Convenience stores are a neat and functional retail institution in Japan, where customers can access the daily essentials

Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty ImagesThe tinned tuna and washing-up liquid that took pride of place on Yamamoto’s shelves have been joined by rice balls, bento, sandwiches, crisps and snacks, sweets and chocolate, fruit and veg, freshly brewed coffee, steamed buns and fried chicken, underwear, books and manga and – yes – cigarettes and alcohol. Just as it is almost impossible to walk through a Japanese town or city without encountering a vending machine, konbini are a fixture of the urban landscape, their brightly lit frontages holding out promise of round-the-clock sustenance and polite, if functional, customer service. As I paid for my food to eat at home, seated office workers were taking advantage of the free wifi and tucking into their breakfasts along an in-store counter, while a couple of salarymen got their morning nicotine fix behind the frosted glass of a smoking room.

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