Japanese convenience stores are not only places to buy lunch, drinks, snacks, and daily necessities. You can also use them to take care of many small but important tasks in everyday life.
One of the most commonly used services is the ATM. Convenience stores can be found almost everywhere, and many of their ATMs are available even after banks have closed. You can withdraw cash while stopping by for something else, so using a convenience store ATM feels very normal in Japan.
You can also pay many kinds of bills there. Electricity, gas, telephone, and other bills often come with a payment slip that you can take to the counter. Automatic bank payments and online payments are now more common, but paying at a convenience store is still widely used.
Convenience stores are also used for payments other than household bills. For example, you may choose a concert, sports, or event ticket online, then go to a convenience store to pay for it and have the ticket issued. Many people prefer to look for the ticket slowly at home and use the convenience store only for the final payment and collection.
Most stores have a multifunction copy machine. You can make copies, print documents, and print photographs. Even if you have a printer at home, the convenience store can be useful when your printer is broken or when you suddenly need a document while you are away from home.
These machines can usually handle larger paper sizes, such as A3, which many home printers cannot print. Depending on the machine, you may also be able to print a file from your smartphone or a USB memory device.
With a My Number card, you can use some convenience store machines to obtain official documents, such as a copy of your residence certificate or a seal registration certificate. This means you do not always have to visit the local government office during its opening hours. I have used this service many times myself, and it is genuinely useful.
You can also send parcels from a convenience store. There is no need to travel to a delivery company’s office just to drop off a package. If the store is open for 24 hours, you can take the parcel there late in the evening after work or after finishing your other duties.
It is also possible to receive some purchases from online marketplaces or resale apps at a convenience store. This is useful for people who are often away from home during the day. It can also help people who want to choose their own pickup time or do not want a package to be seen by other family members.
Another important service is the toilet. When you are travelling or walking somewhere without a public toilet nearby, a convenience store can be a great help. Japanese people are often quite disappointed when they enter a store and find that the toilet is not available for customers.
However, you should not assume that every service is available at every convenience store at any time of day. The services offered can differ between stores and chains. Toilets, parcel services, official document printing, and ticket services may not always be available.
It is also worth remembering that not every convenience store in Japan is open for 24 hours. This is especially true in rural areas. When you need a particular service, it is safer to check the signs in the store or the information provided by the convenience store chain.
Japanese people do not normally think of the convenience store as an official “service center.” It is still a shop where we buy food and daily necessities. But when we need cash, want to pay a bill, print a document, or send a parcel, the convenience store is often the first place that comes to mind.
A Japanese convenience store is a place to shop, but it is also a place where many small parts of everyday life can be handled in one stop.