This is a short guide to what 7-Eleven is selling this month, what each one costs, and what to look for on the label. Prices are tax included and rounded to the yen.

Nabe sets at 7-Eleven

• Rich miso chanko nabe (コク旨味噌ちゃんこ鍋): ¥605

• Rich kimchi nabe (こく旨キムチ鍋): ¥559

• Yuzu and dashi vegetable pork-shabu nabe (柚子とおだしでたべる野菜豚しゃぶ鍋): ¥559

• Spicy miso motsu stew nabe, made with Hokkaido offal (辛味噌もつ煮込み鍋): ¥559

Chanko nabe is the hot pot that sumo wrestlers eat. Shabu-shabu means thin slices of pork cooked in broth. Motsu is offal.

7-Eleven has more nabe listed on its site, including a chicken paitan nabe, a sesame ponzu pork-shabu nabe, a 7Premium motsu nabe and a 7Premium spicy hotpot supervised by Haidilao. Not every store carries every item.

A soup that arrives on 9 November

Kiritanpo-nabe-style soup (きりたんぽ鍋風スープ), ¥430, goes on sale on 9 November, region by region. Kiritanpo is a rice stick from Akita that is traditionally cooked in a hot pot, so this is a way to taste the idea without the pot.

Make your own: soup bases

If your hotel room has a kitchen, a nabe tsuyu (鍋つゆ) is the base. You add water, vegetables and meat.

• 7Premium mild kimchi nabe tsuyu, 750 g (7プレミアム マイルドキムチ鍋つゆ): ¥268

• 7Premium grilled-flying-fish dashi nabe tsuyu (7プレミアム 焼きあごだし鍋つゆ): ¥268

• 7P Sumire miso kimchi nabe tsuyu, supervised by the ramen shop Sumire (名店監修鍋つゆ すみれ 味噌キムチ味): ¥311

Oden, the cheaper option at the register

Oden (おでん) is the pot of simmering broth by the cash register. 7-Eleven’s oden page lists 34 items, and most cost about ¥121 to ¥165 each with tax. You point at the items you want and tell the staff. Some items are regional, and a store may not have everything on the list.

Words to point at

• 鍋 (nabe): hot pot

• 味噌 (miso), キムチ (kimchi), しゃぶしゃぶ (shabu-shabu): flavors

• 鍋つゆ (nabe tsuyu): soup base for cooking your own

• おでん (oden): the simmering pot at the register

• 温めてください (atatamete kudasai): please warm it up

Source: 7-Eleven Japan product pages (sej.co.jp).

Last checked on 4 November 2026.

Kaz

FamilyMart this week

These four are on FamilyMart’s new-product page for the week. Prices are tax included, as FamilyMart lists them:

• Big chocolate tart (大きなショコラタルト): ¥258

• Chilled cream bun, milk (冷やして食べるとろけるくりーむパン ミルク), made with Hattendo: ¥248

• Honey sweet potato (はちみつすいーとぽてと): ¥195

• Lotte waffle cone, cookies & cream (ロッテ ワッフルコーン クッキー&クリーム), an ice cream: ¥338

Image: FamilyMart official product page (big chocolate tart)

Image: FamilyMart official product page (chilled cream bun, milk)

Note the name of the cream bun. 冷やして食べる means “eat it chilled”. It lives in the refrigerated dessert shelf, not on the bread shelf, so do not look for it with the sandwiches.

Image: FamilyMart official product page (honey sweet potato)

The honey sweet potato is part of the autumn sweet potato season. If you want the rest of that story, see the earlier article on what Japan is eating now.

Image: FamilyMart official product page (Lotte waffle cone, cookies & cream)

A matcha ice cream: Haagen-Dazs Crispy Sand The Green Tea

Haagen-Dazs Japan released Crispy Sand The Green Tea (クリスピーサンド ザ・グリーンティー) on 7 April 2026. It is matcha ice cream coated in white chocolate, with a matcha wafer, and the reference retail price is ¥373 including tax. Haagen-Dazs still marks it as new on the official product page.

Where it is sold, and whether it is a limited item, is not stated on the page, so check the ice cream freezer rather than counting on it.

How to read the shelf

• Tax-included price (税込): this is what you pay. Some tags show the price before tax in larger numbers, so check which one you are reading.

• Take-out and eat-in: the tax-included figures above work out to the 8% take-out rate. If you eat at the in-store eat-in space, the rate is 10%, and the staff will ask which you want.

• Limited quantity (数量限定): when the tag says this, it can sell out. Buy it when you see it.

• Chilled (冷やして): eat it cold. Do not ask the staff to warm it.

Words to show the staff

• ショコラ (shokora): chocolate

• タルト (taruto): tart

• アイス (aisu): ice cream

• 抹茶 (matcha): matcha

• スプーンをください (supun o kudasai): a spoon, please

What to know before you go

The weekly list changes on Tuesdays, and what is on the shelf depends on the store. Use this as a map of what to look for, not a guarantee.

Last checked on 4 November 2026.

Kaz

Here is how the new system works, step by step, and the mistakes that can cost you the whole refund.

What changed

Until 31 October, shops took the consumption tax off the price at the register once they had checked your passport. For food, drinks and cosmetics, your purchases also had to go into sealed bags. All of that is gone.

What counts is the day you buy, not the day you fly. Purchases made on or after 1 November follow the new refund system. Purchases made before 1 November follow the old rules.

Diagram: based on Japan Customs, Tax Exemption (Refund) Program for Foreign Visitors

The six steps

• Spend at least ¥5,000 before tax at one tax-free shop in one day. This minimum has not changed.

• Pay the full, tax-included price. Keep every receipt with the items it covers.

• Keep the goods unopened and carry them out of Japan yourself. Gold and platinum bullion and items that are already exempt from consumption tax are not covered.

• Within 90 days of buying, scan your passport at a tax-free procedure terminal in the international departure area, before you check in your bags. At Narita, Haneda, Kansai, Chubu, Fukuoka, New Chitose and Naha, you can also do this online through Visit Japan Web, using the airport Wi-Fi before security. Set up Visit Japan Web before you travel.

• The terminal shows a Green or a Red result. Green means you are finished. Red means you take your purchases to the customs inspection area.

• After customs confirms the goods are leaving Japan, the shop or its refund service pays you back.

Diagram: based on Japan Customs, Tax Exemption (Refund) Program for Foreign Visitors

The rules that can cost you the whole refund

• Refunds work receipt by receipt. If one item on a receipt is missing at customs, nothing on that receipt qualifies.

• Do not eat, drink or use consumables before you leave. One snack eaten from a bag can void that whole receipt. Ask the shop to put food and non-food on separate receipts.

• Your tax-free items must be with you at the terminal. Once your checked bag goes to the airline, you cannot get it back for the procedure. Carry them in your hand luggage or do the procedure before you check in.

• Do the procedure at your final departure point from Japan. This includes connections from a domestic flight to an international one.

• Leave Japan promptly after inspection. If you do not export the goods, you can be asked to pay the refund back, and there can be penalties.

• Some shops may still look for an entry stamp in your passport. If you used an automated gate, ask an immigration officer for a stamp.

How the money comes back

This is the part that depends on the shop. The refund is the consumption tax on your receipt: 10 percent, or 8 percent for food and non-alcoholic drinks. On a ¥11,000 receipt that is ¥1,000. On ¥110,000 it is ¥10,000, before any fees.

The shop or a refund service pays it out after customs confirms your goods. The method can be a refund to your credit card, an app, a bank transfer, or cash at the departure port. There is no single rule on who pays the refund service’s fee, so the amount you receive can be lower than the tax you paid.

Before you pay, ask three things: how will I be refunded, is there a fee, and how long does it take. Paying by credit card keeps things simple, because the refund can go back to the same card.

At the airport

• Arrive earlier than usual. Airports expect queues at the terminals.

• Bring your passport, all receipts, every item you bought and your boarding documents.

• Finish the procedure before you board. If you miss your flight because it took too long, neither customs nor the airline will compensate you.

Your checklist

• Buy from a shop that offers the refund system, and ask how the refund is paid.

• Ask for separate receipts for food and non-food.

• Keep everything unopened and keep the receipts together.

• Scan your passport at the terminal before you check in your bags.

Want all of this in one printable PDF, with worked examples and the Japanese phrases to show staff? Get the Japan Tax-Free Refund Guide (5 pages, $12).

Last checked on 4 November 2026.

Kaz

This is a short guide to what is on the shelves right now, what each thing costs, and what to point at when you cannot read the label.

Sweet potato is the star

The word to know is imo (芋), sweet potato. Most of the sweet potato products this season use a variety called Beni Haruka (紅はるか). It is known for being soft and sweet, and FamilyMart packs its sweet potato line in purple.

FamilyMart runs the biggest campaign. Its “Oimo Shukakusai” (おいも収穫祭, sweet potato harvest festival) line launched on 22 September with 14 products in about 16,500 stores. Three of them are regular items and the other eleven are limited quantity, so some may already be gone when you arrive. Prices are tax included:

• Caramel sweet potato croissant (キャラメル香るおいものクロワッサン): ¥185

• Mochi sweet potato bread (もっちおいもパン): ¥185

• Sweet potato sticks, six in a pack (さつまいもスティック): ¥180

• Beni Haruka yaki-imo monaka, an ice cream sandwich shaped like a roasted sweet potato (紅はるかの焼いも最中): ¥225

• Taberu Bokujo yaki-imo, a cup ice cream with milk ice on top and sweet potato ice below (たべる牧場やきいも): ¥278

• Sweet potato and cheese pizza sandwich (ピザサンド さつまいもチーズ): ¥330

• Caramel sweet potato chips (おいもチップス キャラメル味): ¥248

Image: FamilyMart official press release

If you only try one, make it the monaka. It is shaped like a roasted sweet potato, with sweet potato ice cream and sweet potato paste inside, and it is easy to eat standing outside the store.

Image: FamilyMart official press release

Chestnut is the quiet second

Chestnut is kuri (栗). 7-Eleven built a chestnut line this autumn: a premium Mont Blanc cake (ご褒美モンブラン) at about ¥378, a chestnut cream daifuku (マロンクリーム大福) at about ¥172, and a chestnut and sesame rice onigiri (栗の炊き込みご飯おむすび) at ¥198 before tax, ¥213.84 with tax.

The onigiri is the most meal-like of the three: pieces of chestnut cooked into the rice, with black sesame. Ask the staff to warm it up. The label says it tastes best warm (温めておいしい), and the counter staff will heat it in the microwave for you.

Image: 7-Eleven Japan official product page

Outside the konbini, chestnut shows up in wagashi shops and bakeries, and in kuri-manju, a small chestnut bun sold at festival stalls.

The real thing: yaki-imo

Konbini products are copies of one thing: yaki-imo (焼き芋), a whole sweet potato roasted slowly until the inside turns to syrup. You will find it at supermarkets, at some konbini, at Don Quijote and from trucks that drive around neighborhoods with a recorded call. The trucks are the most expensive way to buy one and the most fun. Break it in half, eat it with the skin on, and do it while it is still hot.

Rice season too

New rice (shinmai, 新米) arrives from September through December. Supermarkets and restaurants mark it with signs, and it is a good season to eat plain rice, onigiri and set meals.

This autumn there is also a national contest around it. The Gotochi Onigiri Grand Prix 2026 runs from 1 October to 30 November, organized by Zen-Noh and Gurunavi. A hundred and sixty restaurants across Japan are serving 453 original onigiri built around regional food. You can see the list on the official site (onigirifair2026.ricesmile.jp), and the winner is chosen by public vote with results expected in early December.

Also in season

• Persimmon (kaki, 柿): sold at greengrocers, supermarkets and roadside boxes.

• Ginkgo nuts (ginnan, 銀杏): skewered at yakitori and izakaya places, and at festival stalls.

• Grilled sanma (秋刀魚): Pacific saury, a teishoku staple, and usually inexpensive.

• Apples (りんご): October to December, best from Aomori.

A shopping list you can show the staff

• さつまいも (satsumaimo): sweet potato

• 栗 (kuri): chestnut

• 新米 (shinmai): new rice

• 温めてください (atatamete kudasai): please warm it up

• 紅はるか (Beni Haruka): the sweet potato variety named on FamilyMart’s purple packs

What to know before you go

Seasonal lines rotate every few weeks, and limited-quantity items sell out. Treat this list as a map of what to look for. The pattern holds in every chain: look for the words imo and kuri on the front of the pack.

Last checked on 4 November 2026.

Kaz

Tokyo is one of the few big cities where this works. The streets stay lit and calm, nobody is going to bother you, and a handful of ramen shops never close. Here are three that are open in the small hours, how the ordering works, and what to know before you sit down.

Before you go: the first ten minutes

• Most trains stop running between about midnight and 1am. Walk, or plan to take a taxi home. Do not count on the subway after the last train.

• Stop at the konbini first. A hot drink or a small snack is a good way to start the walk (see the konbini guide for what to buy). Finish it before you reach the ramen shop; eating while walking is not done here.

• Bring cash and a charged phone. Most of these shops take cards or IC cards at the ticket machine, but a ¥1,000 note always works.

1. Ichiran Shibuya: 24 hours, built for solo eaters

Image: Ichiran official Shibuya shop page

Ichiran is a chain, and that is exactly why it is the safest first stop. The Shibuya shop is in the basement of the Iwamoto Building, next to Marui JAM, about a three-minute walk from the Hachiko exit of Shibuya Station. The company’s own page lists it as open 24 hours, with 21 counter seats and no tables.

You order at a ticket machine at the entrance. It takes cash, credit cards, IC cards and mobile payments. Press the button for the ramen, then add extras if you want them, take the tickets, and wait for the staff to show you a seat. Each seat is a small booth with a bamboo blind in front of you, so you can eat without talking to anyone. You fill in a card with your preferences for flavor strength, richness, garlic, spice and noodle firmness, and hand it through the blind.

Two things worth knowing: the shop says hours can change at short notice, and during busy periods it may stop letting people in before last order. It also announced a short closure on Friday 6 November from 5:30 to 7:30, so check the shop page if you are going in the early hours.

2. Ramen Nagi, Golden Gai: niboshi, ten seats, always lit

This is the one for people who want the weird, specific, only-in-Japan bowl. The main shop is on the second floor of a building in Kabukicho, right by Golden Gai, and it is known for niboshi ramen: a broth made from dried baby sardines, with a deep, salty, slightly bitter flavor that people either love at once or find too strong. If you are new to Japanese fish stock, ask for the standard strength and not the extra-strong version.

There are ten counter seats, so you may wait a few minutes. You buy a ticket at the machine and hand it over. Restaurant guides list this shop as open 24 hours; confirm tonight’s hours on Google Maps before you walk over. Expect a bowl to cost roughly ¥1,000 to ¥1,300.

Kabukicho at night is safe for walking, but people on the street will sometimes try to pull you into bars. Say no thanks and keep walking. You do not need to follow anyone to find the ramen.

3. Hakata Menbo Akanoren, Nishi-Azabu: the Roppongi-side tonkotsu fix

If you are around Roppongi at 3am, this is the place the staff of the neighborhood eat at. Akanoren serves Hakata-style tonkotsu, the pork-bone ramen with thin, firm noodles, and the Nishi-Azabu main shop stays open until about 5am. It is closed on Sundays. It is roughly a fifteen-minute walk from Roppongi Crossing, so it works as a destination, not a stop on the way.

Listings differ on the exact hours (some give 11am to 5am, others a split lunch and late-night schedule), so check the shop’s current hours before you go, especially on a Sunday or Monday night.

How to order and eat like you have done it before

• Buy first, sit second. Ticket machine first, then hand the ticket to the staff. If there is no machine, they will hand you a menu.

• Slurping is normal and polite. It cools the noodles and it tells the kitchen you like it.

• Eat while it is hot. Most people finish in about fifteen minutes, then leave. If there is a line, do not linger.

• Say “katame” for firm noodles, “futsu” for regular. At Ichiran you do this on the paper card.

• Do not photograph other customers. The bowl is fine, the people next to you are not.

What it costs

Plan on about ¥1,000 to ¥1,500 for a bowl, a little more with a boiled egg or extra pork. That is the cheapest memorable meal of your trip and the one most people end up posting.

Last checked on 4 November 2026.

Kaz

Konbini have become a destination in their own right. Searches for “7/11 Japan” jumped 5,000% last summer according to Globetrender, and stores near Asakusa and Kyoto Station now put the tourist favorites on a rack by the door so people stop blocking the onigiri shelf. The egg salad sandwich has done its work. This is what to buy after the egg sandwich, as of this week.

What changed on the shelves this week (checked 4 November 2026)

Japanese konbini rotate their lineup every Tuesday and Wednesday, so what you read in a 2025 guide is partly gone. Here is what actually arrived in the last seven days.

7-Eleven

Image: 7-Eleven Japan official product page

• Beef & Mac and Cheese (ビーフ&マッケンチーズ), ¥453, from 4 November. Yes, that is an American comfort dish in a Japanese convenience store, and it is selling.

• Hamburg Steak and Fried Egg Napolitan (ハンバーグと目玉焼きのナポリタン), ¥699, from 4 November. Napolitan is Japan’s ketchup spaghetti. It exists nowhere else on earth and Japanese people are emotionally attached to it. Try it once.

• Demogorgon Donut (デモゴルゴンドーナツ), ¥257. A Stranger Things tie-in: chocolate with a crumble top, shaped after the monster. Limited, and these collaboration items vanish in about two weeks.

• Beni-haruka Sweet Potato Bites (紅はるかのひとくちスイートポテト), ¥300. This is autumn in Japan in one cup. Beni-haruka is the sweetest variety of Japanese sweet potato and the whole country is eating it right now.

• Cheese Pudding & Caramel Mousse (なめらかチーズプリン&カラメルムース), ¥270. Two cheeses, bitter caramel on top. Pudding is the most underrated konbini category for visitors.

FamilyMart (new on 3 November)

Image: FamilyMart official product page

• Curry Udon (コクと深みのカレーうどん), ¥578. Thick noodles in a spiced curry broth with pork. The single best thing to eat standing in a hotel room at midnight when it is 8°C outside.

• Crush-It Taco Salad (砕いて食べる！タコス風サラダ), ¥537. You crush the tortilla chips into the salad yourself. A good sign of where Japanese konbini food is going: interactive, slightly silly, actually good.

• Almond Twist (アーモンドツイスト), ¥160. A sugar-coated almond Danish for the morning after.

Crush-It Taco Salad. Image: FamilyMart official product page

Lawson

• The Premium Roll Cake, ¥350, is still the one. It is a slice of sponge wrapped around a very large amount of fresh cream, and it costs less than half of what a patisserie would charge for the same thing. If you only buy one konbini sweet, buy this.

• Karaage-kun, ¥240 for four pieces. Guinness lists it as the best-selling freshly fried chicken brand in the world. Red pack is spicy, yellow is cheese. Lawson also has limited flavors that change monthly; whatever the odd one is this week, order it.

The autumn rule

Every November the konbini go all in on three flavors: sweet potato, chestnut (栗, kuri) and persimmon. If a package has a purple-orange potato or a brown chestnut on it, it is seasonal and it will be gone by December. The sweet potato items in particular are the ones Japanese office workers are buying for themselves this month, not for show. Follow them.

What the numbers say people actually loved

The Japan Tourism Agency asked foreign visitors which food they were most satisfied with in Japan. Meat dishes came first (32.3%), ramen second (18.9%), sushi third (14.5%). Ramen beat sushi for one clear reason: 18.2% of ramen fans said they cannot get this flavor at home, and 16.7% said they wanted it because it is famous. Sushi won on freshness (71.2%) but you can get decent sushi in most big cities now. You cannot get a real tonkotsu, or a Tokyo shoyu with hand-cut noodles, or a bowl of niboshi (dried sardine) ramen that tastes like the sea, anywhere but here.

Which is why the late-night walk that everyone is filming right now goes like this: leave the hotel at 11, buy a drink and a hot snack at the konbini, walk twenty minutes through streets that are still lit and still safe, and end at a ramen counter that is open until 3 or 4. Shinjuku, Shibuya and Roppongi all have a dozen of them. You order from a ticket machine, you sit at a counter, you slurp, you leave in fifteen minutes. It is the most Japanese thing you will do all trip and it costs about ¥1,200.

Three things to know before you go in

• Eat it outside the store or take it back. Konbini have no seating in most central Tokyo locations, and eating while walking is frowned on in residential streets. The bin is inside the store; take your wrapper back in or carry it to the hotel. Public bins are rare and that is normal here, not a failure.

• Ask them to heat it. Hand over any bento or pasta and say “atatamete kudasai” (please warm it up) or just point at the microwave. They will. Oden and fried chicken are already hot, at the counter by the register; point and hold up fingers for how many.

• Tax-free does not apply at the konbini for food you eat here. Consumables under the tax-free scheme must be sealed and taken out of the country. Your ¥300 sweet potato is just ¥300. Pay with your card at the terminal, or with cash; both are fine everywhere.

Last checked in Tokyo on 4 November 2026. Products above are national releases unless noted; a few are not sold in parts of Kyushu and Shizuoka. Prices include tax.

Kaz