{"id":27836,"date":"2016-08-05T14:50:41","date_gmt":"2016-08-05T12:50:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.silvereco.org\/en\/?p=27836"},"modified":"2026-01-22T13:50:06","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T12:50:06","slug":"japan-local-shops-adapt-to-ageing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.silvereco.org\/en\/japan-local-shops-adapt-to-ageing\/","title":{"rendered":"Japan : local shops adapt to ageing"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In Japan, local convenience stores strive to adapt to the ageing population ; they now settle in residential buildings.\u00a0<!--more--><\/p>\n<h2><\/h2>\n<h2><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-27843 aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/www.silvereco.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Japan-flag.jpg\" alt=\"Japan flag\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.silvereco.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Japan-flag.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.silvereco.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Japan-flag-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.silvereco.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Japan-flag-110x110.jpg 110w, https:\/\/www.silvereco.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Japan-flag-50x50.jpg 50w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>In Japan, kombinis are an inescapable commodity<\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">In Japan, <strong>convenience stores (kombini in Japanese)<\/strong> are a major part of neighbourhood life. And they don&#8217;t only sell\u00a0food products, including the iconic bento boxes or onigiris (rice balls) ; they also offer daily life services : you can go there to buy plane or concert tickets, make copies, or even pay utility bills and other taxes.<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-27837 alignright\" src=\"http:\/\/www.silvereco.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Japon-convenience-store-Kombini.jpg\" alt=\"Japan convenience store Kombini\" width=\"295\" height=\"393\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.silvereco.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Japon-convenience-store-Kombini.jpg 480w, https:\/\/www.silvereco.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Japon-convenience-store-Kombini-225x300.jpg 225w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 295px) 100vw, 295px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Convenience store employees have also been known to take on <strong>rescuing duties<\/strong>, particularly during the earthquake and resulting tsunami that shook Japan in 2011, during which many of these small stores were converted into emergency centres.<\/p>\n<h2>Local shops implement services for Japanese seniors<\/h2>\n<p>The Japanese population is ageing fast. It is estimated that <strong>one Japanese out of three will be aged 65 and more by 2035.<\/strong> Various companies already started working on innovating services for seniors, and kombinis are following suit.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">They are called 7-Eleven, Lawson, or FamilyMart : kombini chains are now striving to <strong>adapt to elders&#8217; needs<\/strong>, offering a wider range of sane food products, as well as basic products such as dishwasher detergents, toilet paper or light bulbs.<\/p>\n<p>Some even offer <strong>home delivery services<\/strong>, while others set up areas where seniors can sit down and talk to each other, as well as\u00a0partake in some karaoke sessions.<\/p>\n<h2>Kombinis within residential buildings ?<\/h2>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-27841 aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/www.silvereco.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Japon-Tokyo-immeubles-r\u00e9sidences.jpg\" alt=\"Japan Tokyo residential buildings\" width=\"451\" height=\"338\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.silvereco.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Japon-Tokyo-immeubles-r\u00e9sidences.jpg 640w, https:\/\/www.silvereco.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Japon-Tokyo-immeubles-r\u00e9sidences-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.silvereco.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Japon-Tokyo-immeubles-r\u00e9sidences-600x450.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 451px) 100vw, 451px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Kombinis are about to become the ageing benchmark in Japan. In early June, <strong>the Japanese urban renaissance agency signed a partnership with three kombini chains, 7-Eleven, Lawson and FamilyMart<\/strong> ; they will be able to open shops within residential buildings run by the Agency, which house a total of 740 000 families,\u00a040% of which are seniors.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Those chains will first open shops\u00a0in a hundred residential buildings in Tokyo and Osaka, as well as other prefectures in the Kansai region. They will fulfill all the basic functions of kombinis, while also\u00a0providing customers with additional services such as cleaning services and fitness programs, in a bid to make seniors&#8217; daily lives easier and help them get regular physical exercises.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The employees will also be able to handle maintenance problems in the absence of operators from the agency, at night\u00a0or on weekends, for example.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In Japan, local convenience stores strive to adapt to the ageing population ; they now settle in residential buildings.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":27837,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,3352],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27836","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-society"],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/www.silvereco.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Japon-convenience-store-Kombini.jpg",480,640,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.silvereco.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Japon-convenience-store-Kombini-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/www.silvereco.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Japon-convenience-store-Kombini-225x300.jpg",225,300,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/www.silvereco.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Japon-convenience-store-Kombini.jpg",480,640,false],"large":["https:\/\/www.silvereco.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Japon-convenience-store-Kombini.jpg",480,640,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.silvereco.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Japon-convenience-store-Kombini.jpg",480,640,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.silvereco.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Japon-convenience-store-Kombini.jpg",480,640,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"SilverEconomy","author_link":"https:\/\/www.silvereco.org\/en\/author\/enredac26\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"In Japan, local convenience stores strive to adapt to the ageing population ; they now settle in residential buildings.\u00a0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.silvereco.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27836","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.silvereco.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.silvereco.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.silvereco.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.silvereco.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27836"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.silvereco.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27836\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48565,"href":"https:\/\/www.silvereco.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27836\/revisions\/48565"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.silvereco.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27837"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.silvereco.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27836"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.silvereco.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27836"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.silvereco.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27836"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}