My favorite desserts available at コンビニ(convenience stores) in Japan

A convenience store is a small store that sells various everyday items, ranging from foods to toiletries. I'm sure similar stores are everywhere in the world, but for many Japanese, コンビニ, pronounced konbini, is not a substitute for a supermarket.

First of all, konbini is truly convenient. No exaggeration. Other than getting foods and drinks, we can pay utility bills, withdraw money from ATMs, make photocopies, send fax, receive concert tickets, ship parcels, etc. at konbini of all over the country.

Konbini is sometimes more useful than big supermarkets dealing with a great variety of items, especially when you buy only a few things, such as onigiri (rice balls) and a bottled tea. As people usually buy only a few things at a time, you don't have to wait long in a queue for payment.

Above all, we love  convenience stores. Many of us feel like stopping at a konbini for no special reasons on the way back home. We go inside and browse magazines for a while and get some drinks, desserts or hot snacks before leaving. This little ritual helps us relax and change our mood.

They constantly change the selection of goods, and develop their "original" products, so that we can find something new whenever we drop in. It is so much fun!

I often go to a 7-Eleven to buy desserts, not because I prefer this chain to others, but because it is the closest to my place. The photos below are the ones I get pretty often these days.

This is the a cake roll called "Shifuku no Roll Cake (Ultimate Roll Cake)" using super-soft whipped fresh cream from Hokkaido. 150 yen.  

A cream puff filled with very smooth custard. 105 yen. Very reasonable price and always delicious! One thing you should remember: a cream puff is called シュークリーム (shu kurimu) in Japanese, the same pronunciation as shoe cream. Shu kurimu comes from a French word chou à la crème. When you are looking for "shoe cream,"  you have to ask "くつずみ　は　どこですか？（Kutsuzumi wa doko desuka?)," not "Shu kurumu wa doko desuka"?

This is my favorite Creamy Mont Blanc topped with pureed Italian chestnut. Very tasty. 250 yen.

If you remove the plastic dome lid... 

See? Isn't it beautiful? Very creamy whipped cream inside. You can buy small happiness for only 250 yen! 

At 7-Eleven, new items developed by the special teams of the headquarters come out every Tuesday. They include onigiri (rice ball)  with new fillings, bento boxes, sandwiches, desserts, bread and more.

If you have a chance to visit Japan, try to check out Japanese konbini!