FamilyMart Shibuya 1-chome — Konbini in Shibuya, Tokyo

This is a branch of FamilyMart, the konbini chain, sitting in Shibuya and running around the clock. What you notice first is how busy it gets: around 8 PM the aisles are crowded enough that passing another person takes effort, which follows from where it sits.

Bento boxes and cigarettes are the two things the shelves hold in good supply. The snack and drink selection is broad enough to keep you coming back for a daily haul, and SIM cards sit among the goods, which helps if you have just landed and need a line before anything else.

There are two self-checkout machines. One of them scans without making a sound, so if you do not watch the screen you can double-scan. Staff move the line quickly, and people approaching from the queue side and from other directions can get skipped.

Prices sit in the ¥200–1,000 band for a snack or a bento, which is the everyday spend here rather than a splurge. The crowd peaks in the evening, so a daytime stop is calmer if you want room to look at the shelves.