Japanese Convenience Stores

The convenience store or ‘Konbini’ are common landmarks throughout the Japanese Landscape.  Their artificial light cuts through the ambiance of the night like neon icons to a consumer culture.  All the usual items of any western convenience store can be found here as well as alcohol, event ticketing and bill paying facilities.  They are a typology that I know so well yet they are subtly different from those at home.  They are adapted to the Japanese way of life from within a familiar form which highlights the shifts in western cultural models within the Japanese urban fabric. 

Joe Morgan-Payler