SoraNews24 —Japan News—

Japanese netizens are puzzled by Vietnamese convenience stores using increasingly minor characters from Doraemon for their popular steamed buns.

Japan, S Asia
(Doraemon • Familymart • food • funny)

In Japan, skip the makeup counter and head to the convenience store for these 5 great cosmetics

Jamie Koide
Mar 9, 2016

Here are five of the best, high quality cosmetics that line the shelves at Japanese convenience stores, according to one of our Japanese reporters.

Japan
(7-Eleven • beauty • combini • Familymart • Japanese cosmetics • Kanebo • Kose • make-up • tips)

Looking for a job in Japan? Try a convenience store!

Preston Phro
Dec 24, 2014

There are many “symbols of Japan”–from Mt. Fuji to Akihabara, the country has numerous faces to the outside world. But regardless of what comes to mind when you think of the country, there’s a good chance that you’ll stop by one of its many convenience stores on the way to your destination. In many ways, the army of small shops that squat on half the corners from Hokkaido to Okinawa are the perfect symbol of the country. But it looks like the convenience stores of Japan are now facing a serious problem: They can’t find enough employees!

Internet, Japan
(7-Eleven • convenience stores • Familymart • Lawson • work)

Baymax mitarashi dango: The best rice dumplings you can buy or Disney-themed choking hazard?

Preston Phro
Dec 23, 2014

While not everyone in Japan quite knew what to expect from Disney’s newest hit Big Hero 6 (or Baymax, as it’s known over here), it hasn’t stopped audiences from loving the film. Or sobbing through half of it like big babies. (That wasn’t just me, right?) So, it was hardly a surprise when I spotted Baymax mitrashi dango at convenience store chain FamilyMart. And, being the curious person I am, it also wasn’t really a surprise when I found myself buying a pack just to see what they taste like!

Check out our review of the Baymax mitarashi dango and see if you’ll want to pick up a pack for yourself before you head to the theater!

Japan
(Baymax • Big Hero 6 • dango • Familymart • food • taste test)

I need gum, milk, and a verse of “Let It Go”: Special karaoke convenience store to open

Philip Kendall
Apr 9, 2014

I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve been buying beer, bread, or ice-cream at my local conbini and thought to myself, “If only I could scream a few lines of verse into a microphone without having to leave the building.” In the past, the closest I could ever get to combining convenience store shopping with singing was choosing karaoke booths located immediately next door to a 7-Eleven, but now all that is about to change.

In a special collaboration between Japan’s third-largest convenience store chain FamilyMart and nationwide operator Karaoke Club DAM, a one-of-a-kind conbini x karoke parlour will open its doors on April 17 in Tokyo.

Yes, thanks to Japan you can now shop and sing all in the same place.

Japan
(convenience store • Familymart • karaoke • music • shopping)

Monsters University pork buns are cute, delicious, and selling out fast!

Cara Clegg
Aug 15, 2013

Pixar’s highly anticipated Monsters University finally opened in Japan on July 6, and to celebrate FamilyMart have launched an edible collaboration of delicious pork buns. We rushed out to buy a few and put them to the taste test, all for the benefit of our dear readers, of course!