Every trip to Japan begins with a small ritual.
It doesn’t involve a famous temple or a well-known landmark.
It starts at a konbini, convenience store.
Not long after arriving in Tokyo, I found myself walking into my first FamilyMart of the trip. It was late enough in the evening that the city had started to glow a little under the neon lights, but Tokyo was still moving at full speed outside.
Inside the store, though, everything felt calm and familiar.
The quiet hum of refrigerators.
Rows of neatly organized drinks.
Shelves full of snacks I didn’t quite recognize but immediately wanted to try.
If you’ve never experienced convenience stores in Japan, they’re hard to explain. Calling them “convenience stores” almost undersells them. They’re part grocery store, part quick meal stop, part late-night lifesaver for travelers trying to adjust to a new time zone.
And on that first night, I wanted a little bit of everything.
I grabbed a bottle of water first, knowing I’d need it after the long flight. Then I wandered over to the drink section and added a couple of alcoholic beverages to the basket, because when you’re in Japan, it somehow feels perfectly normal to grab a drink for later.
Then came the snack aisle.
This is where things got dangerous.
Colorful packaging covered the shelves from top to bottom. Chips with flavors I’d never seen before. Seaweed flavor, why not? Sweet snacks that looked too good to pass up. Small desserts tucked neatly in refrigerated cases; I must.
I picked things almost entirely based on curiosity.
“This looks good.”
“That one too.”
“Sure, why not.”
Before I knew it, I was standing at the register with a basket that had quietly turned into a full bag. When the clerk handed it back to me, it felt surprisingly heavy — filled with water, drinks, and enough snacks to last several nights.
I probably spent far more yen than I planned to.
But walking out of that FamilyMart with a bag full of small discoveries felt like the perfect start to the trip.
Later that night, after heading out for dinner and wandering through the city for a while, I found myself doing something that would become a routine for the rest of the trip.
Stopping at a convenience store again.
This time it was just for another beer before heading back to the hotel. Nothing complicated, just a quick stop on the way back after a long evening of walking through Tokyo.
But that small habit quickly became part of the rhythm of each day.
Explore the city.
Walk for miles.
See something new around every corner.
And at the end of the night, almost without thinking about it, stop at a convenience store before heading back.
Sometimes it was for a drink. Sometimes it was for a late-night snack. Sometimes it was just because the bright lights of a FamilyMart or Lawson appeared on the corner and it felt like the natural next step before calling it a night.
It’s a simple part of traveling in Japan, but it becomes a ritual before you even realize it.
The first train ride tells you the trip has begun.
The first convenience store run tells you that you’ve settled in.
And before long, you’ll find yourself walking back to your hotel at the end of the night, convenience store bag in hand, already wondering what small snack you’ll discover the next time you stop in.
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