Convenience stores surprised me when I came to Japan.
In my first week in Japan I was in Aizu and a friend cheerfully suggested we go to 7-11 for dinner. In the United States I very rarely go to a convenience store that is not part of a gas station, and then only when I am driving. Because of this I was very confused about why my friend wanted to go.
When we went I was very surprised at what was inside the store. Unfortunately, now I can't remember very well what it was that surprised me. I have gone to convenience stores in Japan now more that I ever could have imagined. Because I go so frequently here, and would go so rarely back in the United States, I can not remember the American ones very clearly anymore.
Many stores here have hot foods, and 7-11s have doughnuts. These things have been popular with some of my traveling companions, but I prefer the rice-based foods pictured below. Pictured are four rows of Onigiri, a kind of rice ball. When you purchase them you can have them microwaved by the cashier while you pay, then walk away with a hot one.
Japan is not the only country with Onigiri in the convenience stores. I talked to a Taiwanese friend about it and he was very surprised to hear that they didn't have this in America.
One of my favorite parts of the convenience store are the Bento. Some of the ones available can be eaten cold, but as with the Onigiri they can be quickly heated while you pay. Many times when I am going to travel, or have a lot of work to do I will buy a Bento for dinner and then eat it while I do other things.
Pictured below is a snack I bought one day. One the left are some chocolate sticks, the middle are corn-flavored potato chips, and the right is a free coke I won when I bought the chips and chocolate.
There are a few further things that I like about the convenience stores here. Many of them have machines that grind and brew coffee to order. They also have large selections of instant ramen and a lot of kinds of canned coffee.
One difficulty that I had in Japan was because of the popularity of a convenience store called Lawson. Pronounced using Japanese sounds, Lawson becomes ro-son, while Larson becomes ra-son. For the first few months I would sometimes confuse these sounds and either say my name wrong, or hear people talk about the convenience store and think that they are talking to me.
