Japanese convenient Convenience Stores.

Not all have car parks this large.

We love Japanese convenience stores. They are just...so...convenient. They have a cute name too: conbeni. There are many, including 7-11, and generally speaking they are easy to find, one on every corner. Except if you have a car-load of hungry boys—then you'll be guaranteed not to find one easily. Or you'll find them, but without car parks!

Here we are parked at a convenience store after a Cross-Country meet.

The reason we most often use them is to buy lunch when we're out and about. Starting at a basic Japanese rice sandwich/ball, you can move up to pre-packaged noodles, rice with "stuff" on top, boiled eggs, (bread) sandwiches, wraps, a variety of bread, yoghurt, a large variety of drinks plus icecream, lollies, chips etc. Some even have fruit for sale. Often you can buy hot food too, like sausages on a stick, bread with meat in it, or baked sweet potatoes (depending on the time of year). It's pretty guaranteed to find something for everyone. And not too bad on the price too. A simple rice "ball" costs about 100 yen ($AU1.24). Two of those fill us very adequately. The cashier will heat them up for you too.

This type of convenience food is so much a part of the culture that even big grocery stores have it, plus a place to heat up your own food. We missed this convenience in Australia.

But this is not just a food store. They have photocopiers too. And the capacity to do many types of bill-paying plus there is usually at least one ATM. They will courier luggage or parcels for you to a predetermined destination (another pretty unique service). Hidden away in a corner is often a clean toilet for public use.

Unfortunately the "front aisle" is usually full of magazines that guys like to gawk at. We steer our boys to the back where the food is (not too hard a job).

Anyway, I thought I'd just show you the rice ball, onigiri, that I just ate from a convenience store. They are amazing, not just in taste, but how ingeniously they are packaged. These are one thing we missed from Japan when we were in Australia. It was the first meal we had when we arrived back too.

This says "Tuna Mayonnaise", my favourite flavour.

Instructions on how to open.

First grab number 1 and pull it down...

all the way back up to the top.

Grasp the Number 2 and pull sideways.

Sorry this isn't a good photo (I was hungry and having a late lunch). You grasp Number 3 and pull it sideways too. This photo is supposed to show you that the packaging separates the seaweed from the rice, so that it remains crisp until you open it.

And there you have it, an onigiri, or rice "ball" ready to eat.

See the yummy stuff inside the rice?

Don't you just want to come and visit now?