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supermarkets

Japanese politeness is a myth: One person’s tale strikes a chord with people around the country

There’s one place in particular where Japanese people aren’t just not polite, they’re downright rude.

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Pretty or practical? Japanese supermarket sparks conversation about shelf stacking styles

Seiyu might be setting a precedent with their easily stackable product tubs.

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Supermarket comes up with ingenious way to market onigiri rice balls to non-Japanese customers

Personal endorsements from internationally famous faces help bring down cultural barriers.

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Revolutionary new A.I. self-checkout system in Japan calculates all your items with one glance

Sayonara barcode scans! Now there’s a faster and easier way to shop in Japan.

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Hokkaido Earthquake Day 5: Our Hokkaido-based reporter shares his experiences in an affected area

Modern conveniences are returning to parts of Hokkaido, but there’s still much to be done.

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Cruel illusion tricks Japanese shopper who wanted pork cutlet for half-off at the grocery store

The cutlet is a LIE.

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Japanese supermarket sushi becomes even more awesome with cool new packaging innovation

Sushi from the grocery store gets an extra touch of class thanks to one tiny tweak.

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Abandoned Japanese shopping mall’s onions are now so popular that they’re selling out【Photos】

Customers now outnumbering salespeople by an infinitely large ratio.

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Abandoned Japanese mall has no employees, but still one operating store selling just one item

Hate waiting in line while doing your shopping? This is the place for you!

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8 types of customer that irk supermarket store clerks in Japan

Can you see yourself in any of these annoying customer profiles?

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Boys love manga pork: BL anime characters now in the chilled meat section

We’ve been bringing you news of the BL craze in Japan, with cafés, books and even university courses featuring homoromantic male relationships, commonly referred to as Boys Love. With more and more people becoming exposed to the trend, what began as an underground sub-culture is becoming more well-known and popular, with men and women alike.

Now it seems the boys have gone mainstream, as stars of a major campaign for supermarket chain Ito Yokado. Only they’re not advertising beauty products or clothing lines. They’re advertising meat.

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Snowfall in Tokyo sees customers clearing shelves across the region

If you’re in Tokyo today you’re probably indoors staying warm and gazing out the window at a very different scene thanks to Tokyo’s first real snowfall of the season. Hopefully you’ve stocked your kitchen with more than a battered bottle of Kewpie mayonnaise and stray packets of ramen seasoning because if you’re thinking of heading out to the shops for a quick snack, there’s a good chance you won’t find anything there. It seems the city is full of nervous shoppers acting like bears going into hibernation, hoarding stocks despite an abundance of 24-hour convenience stores and fully-functioning delivery services. After seeing these photos, we’d hate to see supermarket conditions in a blizzard or even worse, in a major catastrophe.

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