Of Japanese "Convenience"

Here in the magical world of Japan, there's a couple words that are often thrown around to describe everything from the convenience store to transportation. These words are "convenient" and "efficient." For example, "It is convenient for me to only have to walk 1 minute to a convenience store in order to buy anything that currently strikes my fancy. Because I am not wasting time driving somewhere, I can use that time to do more productive things, such as studying or working or possibly going out to the bar with my peers (or in the case of business people - coworkers). This therefore is very efficient." Yes, my readers, that is exactly how it works.

Here in Japan, there are stores called コンビニ(konbini) everywhere. Konbini is short for convenience store, and because it is convenient for me and efficient for me to not have to type all of those other letters, we will call them konbini for the rest of this post. Think of it as your little Japanese word for the day. I'll call it convenience.

Konbini have everything: toothbrushes, magazines, bento (pre-made meals), snacks, alcohol, winter clothing, you name it. Your local 7/11 (called Seven & Holdings here) will be your new best friend. Let's look at a typical konbini here. You walk in. "Oh, look! They have that new magazine I wanted! I'll get that. Oh, and there's some melon pan, yum, I think I'll get that too. It will be a good snack. But you know, sometimes I like something else too around midnight. Oh, they have my favorite onigiri today. That'll be good. And look at that! That bento looks delicious. Great!" You walk up to the counter and place your items down with a friendly "Here you go." The cashier rings them up, tells you the price, and then looks at your bento. "Would you like me to heat this up for you, honorable customer?" "Yes, please," you reply. So they heat it up for you right there, just to the perfect temperature, and you're on your way. See that? That's convenience. You didn't even have to heat up your own meal.

Now, I'm all for convenience, don't get me wrong. But today, I saw one of the craziest things: pancakes. Don't give me that look. You read that right. Miniature pancakes. In a package. In the konbini. They're really cheap too. Like 200 yen. Yum. They're even flavored with maple syrup so you don't have to deal with any of that mess. You can just grab a package and go to class or something. Here's a picture just to prove it: Konbini Pancakes. Now, my friends, I think we've reached a whole new level of convenience here. This is what we call laziness. But the Japanese will never call it that. It is convenience and efficiency. Those are the words they will always use.

So, why are there konbini on every corner? Why are there more vending machines in this country than I've ever seen in my life? Why are the trains so fast and on time? Convenience. Efficiency. Awesomeness. Personally, I admit it's kind of growing on me. I love my neighborhood konbini. I love the people that work in my neighborhood konbini. And maybe one day, I'll buy those pancakes for breakfast just out of sheer "convenience." Thank you, Japan. I admit, a girl could get used to this.

Michelle