Through a gap in a black screen, Mount Fuji can be seen looming over a Lawson konbini, or convenience store, in Fujikawaguchiko this past May. Local officials erected the screen to discourage sightseers looking for a view of the iconic Japanese mountain.Kyodo News via AP
There are few countries that can count a convenience store as a tourist attraction, let alone one so popular and disruptive it required government intervention. But that’s what happened in the Japanese town of Fujikawaguchiko earlier this year.
After frequent complaints about tourists walking into the road, a large black mesh screen was erected across from a Lawson store in the Yamanashi Prefecture town. Officials were trying to obstruct a specific view of the outlet in which snow-capped Mount Fuji rears picturesquely behind it, photos of which had become a must-have for tourists seeking to capture in one Instagram post two icons of modern Japan: the country’s highest mountain and its ubiquitous, beloved “konbini.”
Convenience stores were introduced to Japan in the 1970s, with the first 7-Eleven opening 50 years ago this May in Tokyo’s Toyosu district. As of the end of 2023, there were 55,713 konbini across Japan, with combined annual sales of 11.6 trillion yen (about $107-billion). While 7-Eleven and Lawson both trace their roots to the United States – Irving, Tex., and Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio respectively – unlike homegrown second-place player FamilyMart, all three companies are now headquartered in Japan and listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
Seven & i Holdings Co. Ltd. owns Japan's array of 7-Eleven stores, which Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. of Canada wants to buy.CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/AFP/Getty Images
That could soon change, however. This week, it was revealed Canada’s Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. ATD-T is seeking to acquire 7-Eleven operator Seven & i Holdings Co. Ltd. in a deal that would be the largest foreign takeover of a Japanese company in history, making the Laval, Que.-based multinational the biggest global player in the convenience store sector.
While positively received by the stock market and Canadian analysts, the news has been greeted with more skepticism in Japan, where companies are traditionally resistant to foreign takeovers and consumers strongly attached to domestic brands. The Couche-Tard advance comes after changes to Japanese mergers and acquisitions guidelines intended to make it harder for companies to rebuff foreign buyouts, but Japanese media has nevertheless been keen to throw cold water on the deal.
Japanese consumers may also be skeptical of whether a foreign company can successfully steward a business as key to daily life as many 7-Elevens are, said Caryn Ng, co-author with Brendan Liew of Konbini: Cult recipes, stories and adventures from Japan’s iconic convenience stores.
“Japanese convenience stores are so unique and so different to convenience stores around the world,” Ms. Ng told The Globe and Mail. “I don’t think there’s anywhere else where local communities use konbini in the way they do in Japan.”
Foreign visitors too, are big fans of the stores, and not just those trying to get the Fujikawaguchiko Lawson shot. For budget travellers, konbini are an easy source of cheap, high-quality food, and for young people, the 24-hour opening and wealth of alcohol options are also attractions.
Victor Cheng, a Canadian photographer who produces YouTube travel content with his stylist partner Sam Wong, said when the couple first travelled to Japan, they had visiting the big three konbini on their list like taking in tourist attractions.
“You just have way more choices than anywhere else, especially compared to Canada, where you don’t really go to 7-Eleven for snacks, you get gas and maybe on the side there’s a smoothie machine,” he said. He added that he and Ms. Wong have been living in Japan in recent months, and visiting konbini “has become more of a daily activity.”
Japanese consumers weren’t always wild about convenience stores, with the first 7-Eleven and Lawson outlets selling hot dogs and other American foods to limited success, Ms. Ng and Mr. Liew write. It wasn’t until 1979 that 7-Eleven began serving one of the items it is now synonymous with in Japan: onigiri, which are rice balls wrapped in seaweed and typically stuffed with fish or pickled vegetables.
Today, konbini carefully craft their food offerings – including onigiri, bento boxes and fried chicken, most of which are prepared and cooked in-house – for local communities.
This can be extremely granular. Ms. Ng gave the example of chuka-man (Chinese steamed buns), which are made with a light blend of salt and soy sauce on the west coast of Japan, and a heavier, deeper flavour in the east.
An attentive shopper will also notice products in a given konbini differ depending on the store’s location, so a shop in Aomori might stock more of that region’s famous apples and apple cider, while in Kyushu customers can expect to see lots of products emblazoned with the bear mascot Kumamon (who only appears on goods sourced from the Kumamoto region). Even apparently mass-produced items, such as bread products, are often made by bakeries nearby rather than shipped in, Ms. Ng said.
For Ms. Wong, that konbini stock seasonal drinks and desserts, or limited availability souvenirs, “constantly keeps you wanting to go see what new things they have. It makes you stop and visit every convenience store you pass.”
Seniors enjoy a meal in Sayo, a rural town that, like many across Japan, has been diminished by low birth rates and an exodus of working-age people to bigger cities. Those factors have put financial pressure on konbini as well.Buddhika Weerasinghe/Getty Images
Particularly outside of major cities, Japanese konbini are connected with local communities in a way many Western stores and fast-food chains – which focus on providing an identical experience no matter where you go – often are not.
Additional services offered by konbini such as printing, utility payments and basic banking can also make them indispensable for small towns.
But while Japan’s aging and shrinking population has made many konbini more vital, the demographic crisis has also created problems for store operators.
Japan’s working-age population is projected to fall to 52 million by 2040, down from around 60 million today and close to 90 million in the 1990s.
While the country has begun to gradually open its doors to immigration – last year Japan hit a new record of two million foreign workers – it is still far short of work force needs, particularly outside of major cities.
The konbini giants have suffered as a result. Before Couche-Tard’s buyout offer sent Seven & i’s share price spiking, the stock was flat, and the company had faced pressure from activist shareholders. Lawson is poised to go private, while FamilyMart has long struggled with overseas expansion.
All three chains are investing in automation, with Lawson among the most ambitious, opening a flagship Green Lawson store in Tokyo in late 2022 that is almost entirely staffed by remote employees who interact with customers via on-screen “avatars.” Ms. Ng said the concept enables workers who might otherwise never consider working in a convenience store, such as disabled people, new mothers and residents of rural areas, to apply for jobs, expanding the potential work force.
Automated solutions may struggle to maintain the standards of customer service, cleanliness and speedy restocking that consumers have grown to expect from Japanese konbini, however, and all three major chains have so far failed to export overseas, despite their large global footprints.
Whether Couche-Tard can maintain the ineffable quality that makes Japanese konbini beloved by locals and visitors alike, and if its takeover bid is successful, also remain to be seen.