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Show HN: Interactive map of the convenience store "turf war" in Japan

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Re: Show HN: Interactive map of the convenience store "turf war" in Japan

#31

Post by driscoll42 »

FredPret wrote: post #8

On my recent first trip to Japan, I couldn't believe the number and quality of 7-Elevens/Family Marts/Lawsons. You're never more than a five-minute walk from one in Tokyo, and they've got good stuff.

I visited Tokyo a few months back, and while the convenience stores seemed nicer than equivalents in America, I also wasn't particularly impressed. I think if I had just encountered them I'd be impressed, but the internet has hyped up the convenience stores of Japan so much I thought they'd blow me away. They're nice, they're good, but not amazing.

Re: Show HN: Interactive map of the convenience store "turf war" in Japan

#32

Post by djtango »

naming_the_user wrote: post #9
diggernet wrote: post #5

At first I struggled to make sense of the numbers in the circles. Surely there can't be 10,110 locations in a space the size of the SF Bay area? But yes, yes there are...

Japan is _dense_ in the major cities. As someone from London, not exactly a quiet village, it's on a completely different level.

I'm reminded of some stat (which I haven't verified) that there were ~15k tripadvisor restaurants in London (a "large" city). There were 65k for Hong Kong... Tokyo had 80k

Granted, Tokyo is very large. I got a bit burned out in my first two trips because hauling from one side to the other constantly to hit different sites is kind of exhausting but yes as another comment mentioned - it's totally normal to find restaurants on floors 1 through 10+++ so you can stack a lot of restaurants vertically. Within the city I was told not many people cook and a friend living there told us a lot of apartments don't even have a kitchen beyond a tiny heater for cooking instant noodles or simple stuff.

Re: Show HN: Interactive map of the convenience store "turf war" in Japan

#34

Post by Fauntleroy »

jerlam wrote: post #29
austinl wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One thing that struck me when visiting Tokyo (as an American living in San Francisco), was that it was not uncommon to go to a restaurant or bar on, say the 3rd or 4th floor of a building. In America and Europe, restaurants and shops are basically all zoned to be on the ground floor, with residential or office units above. This gives the density a different feeling, because commercial/dining space extends upward.

In the US, Chicago is also like this. I've been to a "shopping mall" that had ten stores but was spread among four floors. Makes it hard to believe Americans when they claim their city is "very dense" when it is mostly single story buildings surrounded by parking lots.

Right? Our only truly dense city seems to be New York City. Almost everything else is not even close.

Re: Show HN: Interactive map of the convenience store "turf war" in Japan

#35

Post by joshdavham »

FredPret wrote: post #8

On my recent first trip to Japan, I couldn't believe the number and quality of 7-Elevens/Family Marts/Lawsons. You're never more than a five-minute walk from one in Tokyo, and they've got good stuff.

I had a similar experience in Thailand. The amount of 7-Elevens there is incredible. I remember being at one 7-Eleven, and noticing that there was another 7-Eleven visible just across the street.

Re: Show HN: Interactive map of the convenience store "turf war" in Japan

#37

Post by dumbo-octopus »

joshdavham wrote: post #36

For those too afraid to ask, 'konbini' is short for 'kon-bi-ni-en-su-suto-a' which means 'convenience store'.

Another entry in the long list of “words and phrases you translate by saying the thing in English while trying to sound as racist as possible”.

Re: Show HN: Interactive map of the convenience store "turf war" in Japan

#38

Post by nojvek »

Fauntleroy wrote: post #34
jerlam wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the US, Chicago is also like this. I've been to a "shopping mall" that had ten stores but was spread among four floors. Makes it hard to believe Americans when they claim their city is "very dense" when it is mostly single story buildings surrounded by parking lots.

Right? Our only truly dense city seems to be New York City. Almost everything else is not even close.

Manhattan is dense. The city is still a wide area with many low density apartments and single family homes.

Re: Show HN: Interactive map of the convenience store "turf war" in Japan

#39

Post by tmtvl »

Aeolun wrote: post #12

I need to see if I can modify this to finally make my ‘inaka or not’ map by determining the distance to the closest combini. I can’t quite use this one as the radius for every store seems to be a bit large.

I thought the difference was:

Inaka: the bus comes every two hours.

Not: the bus comes every ten minutes.

Re: Show HN: Interactive map of the convenience store "turf war" in Japan

#40

Post by hobotime »

austinl wrote: post #17
diggernet wrote: post #5

At first I struggled to make sense of the numbers in the circles. Surely there can't be 10,110 locations in a space the size of the SF Bay area? But yes, yes there are...

One thing that struck me when visiting Tokyo (as an American living in San Francisco), was that it was not uncommon to go to a restaurant or bar on, say the 3rd or 4th floor of a building. In America and Europe, restaurants and shops are basically all zoned to be on the ground floor, with residential or office units above. This gives the density a different feeling, because commercial/dining space extends upward.

ADA law in the US financially prohibit this. Once you need an elevator, the costs go though the roof for the building. Elevator design, installation, inspection and repair are incredibly expensive and eat up a lot of square footage on every floor.
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