7-Eleven vs Lawson vs FamilyMart: Which Japanese Convenience Store Is Best?

7-Eleven vs Lawson vs FamilyMart, head to head. Our winner for onigiri, egg sandwiches, fried chicken, coffee, and sweets after a month in Tokyo.

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In this guide 11 sections

Honestly? We'd go to all three.

But we did pick favorites. We lived in Tokyo for a month and ate one meal a day from a konbini. 7-Eleven won Tokyo. In Osaka, Lawson won. And FamilyMart? Perfect for quick stops and Pokémon GO.

Here's our winner in every category, and which store to walk into for what.

7-Eleven vs Lawson vs FamilyMart: Our Quick Answer

• Best overall (Tokyo): 7-Eleven.
• Best overall (Osaka): Lawson.
• Onigiri: 7-Eleven. The rice is just amazing.
• Egg sandwich: 7-Eleven.
• Fried chicken: Lawson's Karaage-kun.
• Coffee: Lawson.
• Ice cream and sweets: 7-Eleven.
• Quick stops and Pokémon GO: FamilyMart.

Our 7-Eleven runs started from Shinjuku, and it's where we'd tell you to stay. All three chains have a store on almost every block, open all night.

Store counts are as of March 2026.¹

Onigiri: 7-Eleven Wins

All three sell the same classics: salmon, tuna mayo, and pickled plum, wrapped so the seaweed stays crisp until you open it. Lawson's tuna mayo is made with Sea Chicken, a famous Japanese canned tuna brand, which is a nice touch.

• Winner: 7-Eleven.
• Why: the rice. It's my favorite thing at 7-Eleven.
• Price: our 7-Eleven tuna mayo was 155 yen before tax.

Egg Sandwich: 7-Eleven Wins

The egg sandwich (tamago sando) is the most famous konbini food in Japan, and every chain makes one. Here are 7-Eleven's and Lawson's side by side.

• Winner: 7-Eleven. It's the best egg sando of the three.
• Price: 7-Eleven's was 230 yen before tax. Lawson's was 275 yen. So the winner was cheaper too.

Fried Chicken: Lawson Wins

Every konbini has a hot case by the register with fried chicken. This is the one category where 7-Eleven loses.

• Winner: Lawson's Karaage-kun.
• What it is: bite-size boneless fried chicken in a little box with a pull-tab spout, so you can eat it with the toothpick inside. Lawson has sold it since April 1986.²
• FamilyMart's answer: Famichiki, a big, juicy boneless fried chicken in a paper sleeve. It's the most famous thing FamilyMart sells.
• 7-Eleven's: it has fried chicken and the Big Frank sausage at the counter too. The Big Frank is great in our hot dog hack, but for chicken, go to Lawson.

Coffee and Lattes: Lawson Wins

Lawson's chilled cup lattes, in the fridge by the drinks, are the best coffee you'll find in a konbini. We filmed our favorites.

• Our everyday pick: the classic latte. It's sweetened, and there's a no-sugar version.
• Try first: the hojicha latte, made with roasted green tea. We highly recommend it.
• Also good: caramel and honey lattes, milk tea, and the salted vanilla latte.
• 7-Eleven and FamilyMart: both have fresh coffee machines by the register (Seven Cafe and Famima Cafe) if you want a hot coffee.

Ice Cream and Sweets: 7-Eleven Wins

All three freezers carry the big brands, like Choco Monaka Jumbo and Coolish. 7-Eleven wins for its own gold-label line and the cookies it bakes in the store. We ranked the six 7-Eleven ice creams we'd buy again, with the shelf price for each.

• Winner: 7-Eleven.
• Don't miss: Choco Monaka Jumbo, our #1 ice cream in Japan, and the gold-label red bean monaka.

Drinks: My Favorite Is a Salty Lychee

My favorite konbini drink is the salty lychee, and we grabbed it at Lawson. In Japan, Kirin sells Salty Lychee as a heat-stroke drink, made to put back the salt and water you sweat out on a hot day. Since it's a Kirin drink, you'll spot it at other stores and in vending machines too.

• Winner: a tie. Every chain has a huge drinks fridge, so grab what looks good.

FamilyMart: Best for Quick Stops and Pokémon GO

FamilyMart didn't win a food category for us. But it was perfect for quick stops. We popped in a lot for drinks and snacks.

• Pokémon GO: FamilyMart stores are sponsored PokéStops and Gyms in Japan. We play a lot, and we stopped at FamilyMarts all the time.
• Try: Famichiki, if you want to settle the fried chicken debate yourself.

Tokyo vs Osaka: Why Our Favorite Changed

In Tokyo, 7-Eleven was our default. In Osaka, we actually preferred Lawson.

There's a reason Lawson feels at home there. Lawson's first store in Japan opened in Toyonaka, just north of Osaka, in 1975.³ The chain has deep roots in the Kansai region, and you'll see a lot of them.

Tips for Using Any Konbini in Japan

• Need cash? Use a 7-Eleven ATM. Seven Bank ATMs take most foreign cards, any time of day.⁴ Our cash or card guide explains how we paid.
• Pay by card or Suica. All three chains take both.
• Ask for it hot. Staff will offer to heat bento and rice bowls at the register.
• Carry your trash. Public bins are rare. More in our Japan dos and don'ts.

Our Verdict: 7-Eleven, Lawson, or FamilyMart?

Go to all three. That's the honest answer.

If you only walk into one in Tokyo, make it 7-Eleven for an onigiri and an egg sando. Then stop at Lawson for Karaage-kun and a hojicha latte. And when you're out catching Pokémon, the FamilyMart on the corner is your friend.

Next Steps for Your Japan Trip

• What to buy at 7-Eleven in Japan: our must-try list, from the hot dog hack to the egg sando.
• Cost of living in Tokyo: what a month of konbini meals and dinners out cost us.
• Cash or card in Japan: how we paid at konbini, trains, and restaurants.
• Staying in Shinjuku: the neighborhood where we did our konbini runs.