Shopping at convenience stores and drugstores

Why convenience stores become your base

A Japanese convenience store is far more than a place to buy drinks and snacks. Many stock boxed meals, rice balls and hot side dishes, along with toiletries and underwear, and offer ATMs that accept overseas cards, copying and printing, parcel drop-off and tickets for events, all in one place. Many city-centre stores are open around the clock, but not all of them, and in tourist spots or the countryside some close at night. Finding the nearest store to your accommodation and checking its hours on the first day is reassuring when you suddenly need something late at night.

What you'll be asked at the till

At the convenience store counter you will hear a few short questions. If you buy a boxed meal, staff ask whether to heat it; they also ask whether you need a bag, whether to add chopsticks or a spoon, and whether you have a points card. Plastic bags cost extra in Japan, so you have to ask for one, and carrying a reusable bag makes life easier. If you have no points card, a shake of the head is enough. Many tills now have the customer select the payment method on a screen; when the staff point at it, just tap cash, card or whatever you are using. Even without a shared language, gestures solve almost everything.

Choosing food

Triangular rice balls are often wrapped with a plastic layer separating the seaweed so it stays crisp; pull the tabs in the numbered order printed on the wrapper and they open cleanly. Food in the hot cabinet and the fried food display next to the till is ordered by telling the staff its name or number. It helps to know the two kinds of date label. One is a use-by date for perishable food such as boxed meals and sandwiches, meaning it should be eaten by then to be safe. The other is a best-before date for longer-lasting food such as snacks and tins, indicating when it tastes best. Food past its use-by date is best not eaten.

Convenience store manners

Some stores have an eat-in area, but where there isn't one, sitting outside the shop for a long time to eat can bother local residents. The bins at a store are widely understood to be for rubbish from things bought there, so avoid dumping a bagful from elsewhere. Some stores let customers use the toilet, while others close it for security or hygiene reasons, so it is polite to ask the staff first. Customers usually form a single queue and go to whichever till becomes free.

What drugstores sell

A Japanese drugstore is closer to a large household goods store than a pharmacy. Alongside over-the-counter medicines such as cold remedies, stomach medicines and pain-relief patches, it sells cosmetics, detergent, snacks and drinks, which is why tourists flock to them. Over-the-counter medicines are classified by risk, and some can only be sold after an explanation from a pharmacist or registered seller. As a result, certain medicines may not be on sale when no pharmacist is on duty. If you find only an empty box on the shelf for the medicine you want, the store may expect you to take that box to the counter, get an explanation and then buy it.

What to check when buying medicine

Medicine for the same symptom may have different ingredients and strengths from what you use at home. Don't pick by the picture or name on the box; check the following.

• Use a translation app to read the ingredients, daily dose and dosing interval
• Tell the pharmacist about any regular medication or medical condition
• Distinguish children's from adults' products and check the age limits
• Make sure the type and amount are allowed into your home country
• If symptoms last more than a few days or get worse, see a doctor instead

Tax-free shopping basics

Japan has a scheme that exempts short-term foreign visitors from consumption tax when certain conditions are met. You have to show your original passport at a participating store, and conditions have included a minimum spend per store per day and a requirement that consumables such as cosmetics and food stay sealed until you leave the country. However, the scheme keeps changing, including an announced overhaul of how the exemption is given, so check the spending thresholds and procedures against the latest official guidance from the Japan Tourism Agency and the National Tax Agency, along with the store's own explanation. Also remember that you need to declare goods at customs if you exceed your home country's duty-free allowance.

Common mistakes and cautions

Prices are in principle shown including tax, but some shops print the pre-tax price large and the total small, so the amount at the till may feel different from what you expected. Clothing and shoe sizes use different systems, so try things on or check the measurements before buying. Buying cosmetics and snacks in bulk at drugstores makes it easy to exceed your baggage allowance, so check your airline's limits in advance. Above all, use medicines only for minor complaints, and see a medical professional if symptoms continue.