Conbinis

There are many things to blog about in Japan. There are also many tourists, which means most of it has already been covered. This week, and because I haven't had much time to sit at a computer, I will cover a subject that is almost mundane and yet an amazing source of surprises: the Japanese convenience store, or conbini for short.

Conbinis are convenient in that they are open 24x7 and offer a wide variety of products you might need when you just left the office at 2am and all other shops are closed on your way home. If, as a salary man you bring an office lady home, you will find there the quick diner, the posey, the deodorant and even the condoms for your wild night.

Let's have a look inside:

It's clearly not big. And yet, so much can fit in it! In one corner, an overworked clerk welcomes all the client to the shout of irashaimase! which is an old Japanese expression to welcome the customers. This is where you realize the depth of Japanese work ethics: nothing will prevent her from shouting joyous greetings at her clients. No exhaustion, no grief... not even death!

In another corner, a bunch of salary men who didn't get lucky at the office today browse a few porno magazines (in a family mart, why not?).

On the other side, the food department, where you can find the renowned melon pan. Those melon breads (contains 0% melon) are green and round-shaped and taste like melon (reads the label). They are Japan's quintessential junk food: extremely sweet, chemical and dangerously addictive.

In the last corner is what I came for, the cold drinks section. Japan has a lot of sodas that rank high on the melon pan addiction scale. My pick, on this particularly moist and hot day is pocari sweat, a beverage that fancies itself a sport drink. Some guy decided to analyze what was lost by the body when sweating, and then created a drink that contained all those elements. Thus creating the world's first and only synthetic sweat-based drink. What does it taste like? I'd say lemon, but opinions differ.

That's it for this moment of Japanese culture. Kanpai!