These star employees deserve special recognition for their organizational skills, creativity, and in some cases, downright wackiness. 

When people ask what I miss most about living in Japan, one of the first things that always comes to mind is convenience stores. This may seem like a strange answer, but konbini, as they’re known in Japan, are everything that their American counterparts seem to be lacking. They’re on virtually every major block, are open 24-7, offer a selection of delicious prepared foods and alcohol in addition to ever-changing packaged snacks and daily life items, boast ATMs and copy/scanner/photo printing machines, and sometimes have fun tie-ins with your favorite characters. Heck, you can even pay your bills there. It’s no wonder that foreigners even composed a love song to the humble Japanese konbini.

That said, it takes a great deal of hard work to keep a konbini running efficiently day and night, so we thought we’d take a moment to recognize eight instances of konbini clerks going above and beyond their expected duties. Get ready for some impeccable displays, amusing advertisements, and staff who are 200-percent devoted to their jobs!

1. Playing chicken, are we?

▼ “The employees at this Lawson branch are working too hard (I got permission to take a picture and upload it to Twitter).”

All we can assume is that at least one employee at the Lawson Shin-Higashiserigaya branch in Yokohama is an art student. It looks like the karaage (fried chicken) pieces are fusing together into a giant mecha to seek revenge!

2. Triangles of tribulation

▼ “My friend is supposed to be lending a hand at a Lawson near Comiket, but I just laughed at the picture he sent me.” 

It must have taken quite a long time to stack those onigiri (rice balls) in such a space-efficient pattern instead of just shoving them into rows. Knowing the insane crowds at Comiket, they’ll nonetheless all be sold out before the convention’s end. Even funnier, one net user compared the display to a manga depicting an identical onigiri-stacking scene:

▼ “It’s a total replica.”

https://twitter.com/X10aS/status/814253581482082304

Even funnier still, almost two years after the original post, someone posted a picture of a similar display with a reference to the convention. Does this mean that the original employee is still at large somewhere??

▼ “The rows are like the ones in the konbini at Tokyo Big Sight [home of Comiket]. Lol”

https://twitter.com/big_laugh_/status/1042324020115329024

3. They must be neat freaks

▼ “No matter when I come, the rows of this Family Mart are immaculate.”

▼ “Incidentally the cup noodles section is exactly the same.”

▼ “This is eight hours later.”

▼ “Thank you so much for all of the retweets. Really, every time I come here the presentation and customer service are wonderful. It’s a Family Mart location in Nagasaki City.”

If you’ve ever worked retail, then you know that it can be near impossible to maintain such pristine rows for an hour, let alone for the length of an entire work day. That’s some godlike tidiness there–even the bags’ edges are tucked more neatly under the shelves than we are when getting ready for bed.

4. OK, we’re ready for some normal people now

▼ “This display of ice cream at 7-Eleven is too messy, haha.”

Usually the frozen treats at a konbini are separated neatly within the freezer, but we guess whoever made this display was in need of a bit of controlled chaos! (So are we after those last pictures.)

5. Just making sure you got the memo

▼ “I’ve got it, I’ve got it, I’ve got it.”

Did they print too many copies by accident, or are they just overly enthusiastic about this sale? At least we can all agree that nothing beats the instant gratification of konbini oden (a type of hot pot) in the winter.

6. Take a chill pill

▼ ”Calm down (;´-`)”

“Ooooooooonionionigiri! 100-yen [US$0.88] sale” is what the sign in the window reads. Can’t you practically hear someone yelling it down the street?

7. Know your customers

▼ “Are you listening…Bump fans in Nissan Stadium…go to the 7-Eleven Shin Yokohama 2-chome branch…the most awesome Jagariko display will be waiting for you”

Jagariko are addictive potato stick snacks sold in a round paper cup. Whoever was in charge of making this painstaking display was attempting to appeal to concertgoers at a nearby Bump of Chicken [Japanese alternative rock band] concert. We wish we could have seen the looks on fans’ faces when they walked in!

8. Poor and starving college students, rejoice!

▼ “The 7-Eleven at my university has gone crazy and I love it.”

https://twitter.com/yasu1128ba/status/993768893108776961

Wow. They’re really not messing around.

We hope you enjoyed these scenes. Now just remember to use your manners when shopping at a konbini so that you don’t look like an idiot.

Source: Naver Matome
Featured image: Twitter/@mint_furuta