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Toshifumi Suzuki, founder of Seven-Eleven Japan, has died

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Re: Toshifumi Suzuki, founder of Seven-Eleven Japan, has died

#81

Post by nokeya »

adventured wrote: post #50
rjh29 wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They are expensive by Japanese standards. Assuming you're American, you're benefitting massively from the exchange rate.

It's not the exchange rate. It's 30 years of economic destruction and currency devaluation as the end result of horrific spending policies. If Japan doesn't right the ship, they'll sink into middle income territory over the next 30 years. Poland and Greece are now just slightly below them in GDP per capita - and Lithuania is above them (unthinkable circa the mid 1990s). Realistically Japan is very close to being a se…

And now compare not the numbers, but what these countries actually produce, in global sense. Japan produces cars, electronics, medical and precision stuff, cultural exports. And what do Croatia produce? Not even speaking about almost dying Latvia and Lithuania.

Re: Toshifumi Suzuki, founder of Seven-Eleven Japan, has died

#82

Post by maattdd »

klausa wrote: post #80
Klonoar wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Conbini meals only register as "high quality" to you because your comparison point (e.g, American 7-11) is an abysmal excuse for food. The food is, in reality, not that special.

This hot take, along with the "oh you can get better chicken than FamiChiki almost anywhere in Japan", drives me _nuts_, even as I live in Tokyo. Yes! There are better options available if I want to sit down for a meal, or even just wait for a couple of minutes for someone to fry me a piece of chicken to order. That's _not the point_! Both the SEJ meals, and FamiChiki, are _fantastic_ for what they are — available in…

> not because pizzerias in Berlin or Warsaw

Well kinda actually. In countries with good culinary, even basic konbini food can be better than more "serious" restaurant in bad culinary countries.

Re: Toshifumi Suzuki, founder of Seven-Eleven Japan, has died

#83

Post by rjh29 »

blululu wrote: post #54
rjh29 wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They are expensive by Japanese standards. Assuming you're American, you're benefitting massively from the exchange rate.

IDK man - this is sort of true, but I think you under-estimate how quality and price scale. A Jumbo-Choco-Monaka at 7/11 is still a fantastic value at ¥160 even if you adjust for purchasing power. GDP Per Capita (PPP) is about $85K in the US and about $60K in Japan, but even granting a 2x increase for California then a $2 choco-monaka would be a steal. As it is, I just spent $4.50 for an Its-It about an hour ago and…

$85K vs $60K ...to give you some idea the typical wage in Okinawa for a combini job is about $6/hour. I think the income disparity is larger than those numbers suggest.

FWIW Japanese people living there tell me combinis are expensive based on their salaries and I believe them.

Re: Toshifumi Suzuki, founder of Seven-Eleven Japan, has died

#84

Post by rjh29 »

jmknoll wrote: post #60
adventured wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not the exchange rate. It's 30 years of economic destruction and currency devaluation as the end result of horrific spending policies. If Japan doesn't right the ship, they'll sink into middle income territory over the next 30 years. Poland and Greece are now just slightly below them in GDP per capita - and Lithuania is above them (unthinkable circa the mid 1990s). Realistically Japan is very close to being a se…

Thank you. I live in Japan and it is incredibly frustrating to hear people here talk about the exchange rate as if it is some temporary but unfortunate weather condition, rather than the downstream effect of a generation of terrible policy decisions that it actually is

Probably more accurate to say the bubble period was the weather condition and the current rate is more of an equilibrium.

Re: Toshifumi Suzuki, founder of Seven-Eleven Japan, has died

#85

Post by rjh29 »

kelnos wrote: post #72
rjh29 wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Android doesn't support suica for public transport but you can still use Google Pay most of the time. Except when you randomly can't! Unlike other countries you still need to take a credit card (and maybe even some cash) as backup.

Android does support suica/felica, and many (most?) phones have the hardware for it, but most manufacturers will only pay the licensing fees for it for their Japanese SKUs, leaving other SKUs with a software lock.

Okay, I'd be curious what phones have support for it enabled. I thought the chips were only installed on iPhones!

Re: Toshifumi Suzuki, founder of Seven-Eleven Japan, has died

#86

Post by klausa »

maattdd wrote: post #82
klausa wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This hot take, along with the "oh you can get better chicken than FamiChiki almost anywhere in Japan", drives me _nuts_, even as I live in Tokyo. Yes! There are better options available if I want to sit down for a meal, or even just wait for a couple of minutes for someone to fry me a piece of chicken to order. That's _not the point_! Both the SEJ meals, and FamiChiki, are _fantastic_ for what they are — available in…

> not because pizzerias in Berlin or Warsaw Well kinda actually. In countries with good culinary, even basic konbini food can be better than more "serious" restaurant in bad culinary countries.

I think you could make a relatively uncontroversial argument that pizzerias in Germany or Poland on average are pretty bad, but if you made that claim about Berlin or Warsaw _specifically_, I wouldn't take you seriously.

Re: Toshifumi Suzuki, founder of Seven-Eleven Japan, has died

#87

Post by rjh29 »

vibekoter wrote: post #68
rjh29 wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Android doesn't support suica for public transport but you can still use Google Pay most of the time. Except when you randomly can't! Unlike other countries you still need to take a credit card (and maybe even some cash) as backup.

"Unlike other countries you still need to take a credit card (and maybe even some cash) as backup" "still" I take a reliable CC and cash any fucking day over Apple and Google Pay or any shit payment "app" like Revolut which simply blocks you out of your account if on a device they seem to not like / that is not attested, while preventing browser-based usage. You stupid tech bros. Appps, apps, apps, everything via an…

Well you'd hate Japan then since everybody is using PayPay. Which is an app and not even a standard like Google Pay or Apple Pay.

Re: Toshifumi Suzuki, founder of Seven-Eleven Japan, has died

#88

Post by darkwater »

rjh29 wrote: post #39
RigelKentaurus wrote: post #6

On our last couple of Japan trips, we would walk into 7/11s for an inexpensive coffee, an egg or fruit sandwich, and also do some treasure-hunting for co-branded items with Muji/Uniqlo or others. It became a short and meaningful part of our routine. We loved the convenient locations and fantastic service at all their stores. Well done, Suzuki-san!

They are expensive by Japanese standards. Assuming you're American, you're benefitting massively from the exchange rate.

And how had the Japanese inflation / cost of living changed over the last 10 years or so? I went there in 2015 and now hearing this I'm strongly thinking about paying another trip there... I mean, back then 1 EUR bought 135 yen and now it's 185, and I already remember restaurants to be pretty cheap for the average quality, while hotels/apartments sucked a bit - especially in room size.
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