Japanese with anime voice: episode31
Hello, I’m Sachi.
Today, April 15, is KARAAGE-KUN Day at Lawson convenience store. Karaage-kun is the name of the fried chicken product sold at Lawson. I thought KARAAGE-KUN had become popular about 20 years ago, but I was wrong. It was born much earlier, today, in 1986. It has a much longer history than I thought! Karaage-kun. I know, it’s delicious, isn’t it? I used to buy it when I was in Tokyo. I know in my head that I will get fat if I keep eating junk food, but I can’t seem to stop eating junk food! Don’t you all agree?
Which is your favorite convenience store in Japan? The most representative convenience stores are Seven-Eleven, FamilyMart, Lawson, and Ministop. As for Seven, I guess I should say Seven-Eleven Japan.
I often hear that the convenience stores that people from overseas would like to visit in Japan are Seven and Lawson. Lawson seems to be especially popular. One of my American friends said she wanted to go to Lawson so badly. There may be many Lawson stores in Tokyo, but there aren’t that many in my hometown in the countryside or where I live now. Everywhere I go, there are more Seven and Famima stores than anywhere else, and they seem to be popular than Lawson among the Japanese, though. Lawson has a strong image of the Kara-Age-Kun I mentioned at the beginning of this episode, but I wonder if it is popular now because of its cheap and tasty sweets. If there are any listeners who like Lawson, please tell us what Lawson has to offer.
I usually go to Seven or Famima on a daily basis, but if I had to recommend a convenience store to someone from overseas, I would recommend Ministop! If my friends from overseas came to visit me in Japan, I would take them to this convenience store the most. Ministop is not that well known to people from other countries, and it is not that popular in Japan either, but the desserts you order at the cash register are all delicious looking.
About 15 or 20 years ago, convenience stores began a heated competition, and the quality of sweets on the shelves exploded. It was like, you could buy sweets of the same quality as a famous confectionery store, like rich cheesecake or chocolate, at a lower price. In comparison, the desserts you order at the cash register at Ministop are expensive, but the taste is no different from the sweets you get at those trendy cafes. The menu changes with the seasons. The most common ones are strawberry parfait, apple mango parfait, smooth pudding parfait, sweet potato parfait, Belgian chocolate parfait, and red sweet potato soft serve. Don’t all of these sound delicious? Don’t you think so?
Just like Starbucks and Tully’s offer seasonal items, Ministop has a seasonal menu. This is not well known to foreigners, so when you visit Japan, please find a Ministop and try it! If you post it on SNS, I’m sure you’ll get a lot of likes. I don’t know, maybe it won’t work out so well because it’s not a hot topic. No, topics are created. I also have a YouTube channel, and if my American friend comes to Japan, I would like to make a video of the Ministop dessert experience. However, my channel doesn’t have many subscribers… That’s how I want to show the world how good Ministop is.
But if you come here on vacation, you will only be able to experience desserts that are only available during that time of year. If you stay in Japan for a year or a few years as a language student, you should try to experience it throughout the year.
Oh, and by the way, eat-in is commonplace in all convenience stores now, although some places rather lost that space when the coronavirus spread. Ministop was the 先駆者 (senkusha) of eat-in. 先駆者 (senkusha) means someone who did something before anyone else. There was a Ministop on my way to school in high school, and I used to walk there on my way home. Until then, convenience stores were places where you could buy food but no place to eat it, but Ministop had a place to eat. Moreover, Ministop’s catchphrase was “Convenience store where you can eat and talk.”
At the time, “eat-in” was not a word, but from a high school girl’s point of view, being able to sit down and eat at a convenience store was a great idea. To others, this kind of talk would make them wonder who you think you are. Teenagers are at an age when they are always looking for something new, and in high school I really went to the store often. Because I could kill as much time as I wanted inside the convenience store, not outside. Some foreigners seem to think that there is a charge when it comes to eat-in, but all convenience stores are free of charge. So when you buy something at a convenience store, please feel free to use it.
