FURIOUS EAST

Japan, the empire of "conbinos" the h24 markets where you buy, but do not flee

Japan, the empire of "conbini" the h24 markets where you buy, but don't flee

While Prime Minister Abe snubs Italy and tries to convince Europe to revive nuclear power, a Japanese magazine reveals the success of these supermarkets open day and night, symbols of a modern and efficient country, but unknown to Italians

by Pio d'Emilia | MAY 1, 2014

Mount Fuji? The geisha? The samurai? The punctuality and cleanliness of the trains? The most efficient and fastest postal service (public and private) in the world? The food, from sushi to ramen, via pizza, pasta, and ethnic cuisine everywhere else in the world, by far prepared and presented as in no other country? Nope. The conbinos. The con-bini?. That's right, the con-bini. I know that to most people who have never been to Japan this word means nothing. But according to a popular Japanese weekly, the Shukan josei, which devoted an entertaining and highly informative special to the phenomenon, it is precisely these 24-hour mini-supermarkets (the term combini comes from the English "convenience store," but Japanese ones stand to American ones like Dante stands to Federico Moccia or like Dubai's airport to Malpensa) that are the symbol of modern, effective Japan. Not only that, the idea is one of the few shared by everyone in Japan. Foreigners included. And for that matter, by the writer as well.

According to the aforementioned magazine-which also offers an interesting commercial-historical reconstruction of how, when and by whom American convenience stores, a symbol of the lowest quality "buy & run" landed in Japan while retaining the "convenience" of the originals but increasing their quality, product choice and, above all, additional services-there are more than 50 thousand conbini in Japan. On a national scale, it means one for every 2,000 inhabitants, but the average goes much lower in large cities such as Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, and Yokohama, where among conbini and kusuriya (literally, "pharmacies," actually you can find everything there except medicines, which in Japan are prescribed and distributed only in hospitals and are distinguished from conbini only because they do not have the obligation to stay open at least 18 hours) there is one for every thousand.

About ten "chains". Seven Eleven and Lawson (which recently opened its "Natural" line, with products that are strictly organic or at least purportedly so) are the most powerful, with about half of the total and the most comprehensive line of additional services (see below), followed by FamilyMart, Sunqust, Ministop and others. The total number of "visitors," nationwide, is 40 million per day. One for every three inhabitants, including old people and children, who spend, on average, 600 yen each (about 4 euros, at current exchange rates). Half a million yen, a little more than 30,000 euros, is the average turnover, although this is a figure that makes no sense, since there are half-deserted conbini, especially in rural areas, and others crammed with customers at all hours of the day and night. We say "visitors" because not everyone who enters a conbini is buying something. Many come only to take advantage of services, from the simplest, "traditional" and widespread, such as going to the toilet, doing ATMs, paying bills, printing, sending packages, booking tickets for concerts, exhibitions, and other events to the more bizarre and sophisticated, such as finding housing, jobs, underwriting policies, and even booking a low-cost funeral, paying for it in installments.

Others, and this is the thing that strikes the foreigner the most, come in and stand and read, standing around, newspapers and magazines, with no time limit or obligation to buy. The phenomenon is called tachi-yomi (reading while standing), is widespread and all in all commercially convenient. "I know, it seems strange to you," explains a Lawson's employee I have downstairs, without whom my life in Japan would be much sadder and more complicated, "but in the end even the most hardened exploiters buy something anyway. Partly because reading, especially at length, makes them hungry and thirsty, partly because they feel an obligation. Maybe they don't buy the magazine, but something to munch on or drink does." I once stayed on purpose to observe the situation, and it is indeed so. Two-thirds of the "freeloaders" buy something. But what?

Everything. The conbini not only sell everything that might be needed in an "emergency" situation (band-aids, pens, batteries, shampoos, pocketbooks, wallets, ties, underwear, and anything else you can imagine-believe me, there really is everything) but also food, drinks, legal drugs (such as tobacco, alcohol, and various solvents, used by many Japanese youth as drugs). And do not think that they are all the same and that the quality of the products is poor. Far from it: competition is continuous and ruthless even within the same chain (salaries, both of managers and clerks, almost all part-time include substantial bonuses linked to turnover) so each conbini has its "special service," its exclusive product line, its seasonal "promotion."

Lastly-and here we are really on another planet, so much so that only foreigners point to it as a decisive element, for Japanese this is taken for granted-what is striking is the overall efficiency of the service and the courtesy of the employees, most of whom are young part-time students. All food, for example, comes with what is needed to consume it: wipes, chopsticks, various condiments and even a toothpick. Behind the cash registers, where in the busiest conbini there are usually two people operating, one person in charge of payment the other to pack/scald/explain and in case help the customer who has any difficulty, there are kettles to always have hot water, microwave mini-stoves, and recycling bins.

Fascinating, especially if you understand what the cashiers are telling you as they operate, the ritual of payment. "Apparently it's 4,330 yen, including VAT, which as you know has recently increased from 5 to 8 percent..." is the first thing they tell you these days, despite the fact that the figure always appears on the register and emphasizing the shopkeepers' deep dissatisfaction with the very recent increase in value-added tax. At this point the customer, who has obviously already done the math and has the money more or less counted ready (to avoid making those behind, in line, wait: have you ever thought of that?) puts the money (or the credit card, by now they take it everywhere, even to buy a package of cookies, without batting an eyelash) on a saucer (passing it by is considered rude). Of course, this detail the foreigner does not know and when faced with a bill of 4,330 presumably presents a 5,000 yen bill. Don't worry: no one will insult you. "I am going to use this money, which seems to me to amount to 5,000 yen," replies the cashier operator, "have the courtesy to be patient for a moment for change and a receipt. Before you even finish the sentence-I assure you that they do say that-the change and receipt arrive. For the delivery of which there are strict, universal rules: first the receipt, then the bills (if any), finally the coins, starting with the heaviest (500 yen) to the smallest and lightest (1 yen). They all do this, from taxi drivers to banks, from restaurants to stores. Just like we do in Italy.

When you serve a Japanese person, give him the bill and give him the change, try to think, with a modicum of sympathy, about the enormous shock he is suffering and maybe give him the discount, instead of, as alas seems to happen often, ripping him off. And remember: Japan is one of the few countries where we are still loved and respected for what we have done and can do, rather than by who we are represented by. A country where Leonardo, Armani, Ferrari and Totti are far more popular and well-known than Berlusconi and successors. We should be able to reciprocate, sooner or later, this sincere passion.

The arrogance, dislike and sometimes objective "global" dangerousness of certain of their politicians - starting with the current premier Shinzo Abe, these days touring Europe that "counts" (so Italy excluded.... ) to promote his country's image, now tarnished by China, by demanding solidarity on ancient and complicated territorial issues and by defending and re-proposing the now obsolete, uneconomical and above all dangerous nuclear technology - should not in the least fall on the image of Japan and its people. With whom we share so much: the love of art, culture, genuine food. And the immense tolerance for a largely corrupt, ignorant and, above all, arrogant political class.

Article Translated from:

https://www.ilfattoquotidiano.it/2014/05/01/giappone-limpero-dei-combini-i-market-h24-dove-si-compra-ma-non-si-fugge/970013/

written by Pio D’Emilia