The convenience store or konbini is a ubiquitous machinic presence in Japan’s urban landscape and spreads into most rural settings across the main islands. Konbini are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week and are staffed by low-wage contract employees, many of them drawn from the so called ‘freeter generation’ (furītā), people who have grown up in the lengthy economic and social malaise of the post-bubble era and who ‘float’ from one job to another without career prospects or job security. Customers like konbini for their clean facilities and regularized product lines – they are, in a word, convenient. Moreover, this experience of convenience is expressed in a double way. For the franchise owner, the convenience factor is that they are able to employ staff under liberal employment laws at low cost and circumnavigate urban planning laws designed to regulate the spread of large shopping malls. For the customer, the expectation that konbini will be always available and easy to access is the convenience; the products are also expressive of convenience as they feature a range of prepared and easily consumed foods and drinks, magazines, and other products that might be needed at short notice, ranging from portable phone chargers, to stamina pills, nylons and condoms.