And what name might that be? Why, convenient stores of course! Or, as called in Japanese “conbini” (コンビニ). If you think that sounds suspiciously like a shortened version of “convenient” then you’d be correct! Japanese has taken many modern words from foreign languages. For a comedic take on this concept allow me to redirect you to one of my favorite videos on the internet here. It’s a form of comedy called “rakugo” and the performer, Sunshine, is the only foreigner to have ever studied it. Which is pretty impressive to me that any foreigner studied comedy in a second language because that is hard. Very, very hard.

But I digress, I came to talk about conbinis because I love them and will definitely miss them when I return to the States. There are a lot of different convenience store chains here, but from what I’ve observed 7/11, Lawsons, and Family Mart seem to be the biggest. Although there’s this one called “short stop” and I love making jokes when we pop in there on a road trip. Just, uh, making a short stop along the way~ …Yeah, my host family doesn’t understand because, English.

Anyway, if you’re a foreigner planning to come to Japan, get ready to walk into a 7/11 at least once. Japan is a cash society, which means a lot of places, especially restaurants, won’t except a credit or debit card. In Nagoya, there’s only one train stop I know of that will let you pay for a ticket with a card, everywhere else is cash only. 7/11 comes into play because you are almost guaranteed to find an atm there that accepts foreign cards. Some Lawsons do too, but I have found 7/11 to have a more reliable track record. The atm fee isn’t that bad either, about 200 yen (USD $2). From my understanding, the exchange rate is extremely fair, too. I’ve never actually done the math to see what they’re giving me, but just by looking at the numbers it seems very close to what Google says (1 USD = ~113 yen).

Second, convenient store food here is actually good. I eat conbini food at least once a week for lunch, usually more. And it’s not because I don’t have any other options, it’s just that conbini food tastes good and is a decent price. And that’s the just the premade food. If you have a sweet tooth and the ability to digest dairy, Japanese ice cream snacks are the best. It takes a lot of willpower to not buy one every single time I walk into a conbini.

But here’s what really inspired me to write this post: Anyone who lives in Japan for more than three months legally has to enroll in Japan’s national health care plan. As I am here for nine months, that includes me. I can’t speak too much on how the enrollment process works because my host mom did most of it for me. But, I finally got the first bill, and then promptly buried it under a stack of comics in my room.

Oh no, suddenly, it’s the day before it’s due and I haven’t paid it, how stressful! Except not! Because how does one pay for their national health insurance in Japan? By bringing the bill to the conbini and paying it right there and then. You just take it to the counter as if you were buying something, but instead, you’re paying a bill. And, since most conbinis are open 24 hours, just go whenever is convenient for you. I may or may not have a bad habit of misplacing bills/taxes until I remember it a day or so before it’s due, which always feels so stressful since they have to be mailed. But going to the conbini? Life changing.

Furthermore, at Lawsons you can buy tickets for all sorts of events and places. You want to go to Universal Studios Japan, or how about The Miyazaki Museum? Just buy your tickets at the local Lawsons!

The one downside to conbinis is that they don’t carry over the counter medicine. If you need that then you have to go to a drug store. But everything else you need, you can get!

Edit: I was mistaken, some conbinis sell over the counter medicines. However, since medicine, even OTC drugs, are highly regulated, most conbini’s don’t have a permit to sell them. It feels really weird to me coming from a country where advil can be picked up at any grocery store, gas station or drug store.

However, some conbinis do sell OTC medicine, and you can know this by seeing this kanji “薬” or these hiragana “くすり”　(both pronounced kusuri) on the side of the store. In my area, I’ve only noticed one conbini that has this, I don’t know if it’s more common other places or not.