convenience store

Japan

Japanese culture

Japanese society

occupation / innovator as

anthropologist of Japan

, in Japan, is a business that, in the 1990s began to sell itself as locally situated takeout stores, offering speedy, non-cloying service to their patrons, and promoting 'friendliness' to all customers while toning down the individualized attention that was a hallmark of small retail service.

For example, while consumers still desire fresh, quality food, they combine home cooked meals with prepared, store bought foods that are faster to make and cheaper than meals taken at a restaurant. Many small businesses, including restau- rants and cafeterias (shokudo_), closed during the 1990s. The konbini became a place where people looking for food late at night or early in the morning could turn for nourishment. Konbini sold themselves as locally situated takeout stores, offering speedy, non-cloying service to their pa- trons, and promoting 'friendliness' to all customers while toning down the individualized attention that was a hallmark of small retail service.

is an integral institution in Japanese daily life with approximately 55,000 locations - more numerous than banks, employing more employees than department stores, more versatile than the vending machines, speedier than the supermarket, and closer than the post office.

There are approximately 55,000 convenience stores operating in Japan today. Arguably no commercial establishment plays as integral a role in people's daily existences as this ubiquitous type of shop. Konbini are more plentiful than banks, a larger employer than department stores, more versatile than the vending machine, speedier than the supermarket and closer than the post office . . Most major generchains remain open 24-hours a day 365 days per year. Between 1995 and 2005, konbini doubled in number and are currently a '7.7 trillion a year industry (Abe 2002:186).

Gavin WhitelawThinkers

Gavin Whitelaw