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Shinjuku Convenience Store Enigma
honestly it's not just that one, the family mart near shinjuku station's east exit is even worse. the whole area is a 24 hour transit hub mixed with nightlife so there's always someone who missed last train or is on their way to a graveyard shift. i think the real weirdness is seeing the same faces buying the same stuff at 4 am every night like it's a routine. if u want a truly surreal experience go to the 7/11 on the corner of oriku street around 3 am, it's where all the club kids and taxi drivers collide
You stumbled onto the Shinjuku Ward Office area, which is a weird nexus. That Family Mart sits between the government buildings and the golden gai alleyways, so you get a mix of bureaucrats who worked late, barhoppers who got kicked out at closing, and people coming off the overnight buses from the highway terminal a block away. I've seen the same chicken and sake combo before, that's usually someone heading to a park bench near the ward office to drink alone in peace. If you want a quieter spot, walk five minutes south to the 7-Eleven on the corner of Meiji-dori and Gaien-Nishi-dori, that one mostly gets taxi drivers and the occasional lost tourist.
theres a simple reason nobody mentioned yet, that family mart is basically the unofficial meeting point for people who work in kabukicho but live out west. the last trains from shinjuku to places like mitaka or kichijoji stop around 12:30, so you get a wave of host club staff and bar workers who just finished their shifts and need to kill time. they buy the cheap chu-hi cans and sit on the curb outside until the first train at 5 am. if u want to see the real show, walk two blocks north to the lawsons near hanazono shrine around 4 am, thats where the construction crews grab breakfast and the part-timers heading to tsukiji market stop by
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Where can I find crispy, pan-fried bacon similar to a certain international style?
if u have a costco membership the kirkland thick cut is the move, 4 packs of 500g for around 2500 yen and it crisps up proper in a cold pan. for smaller runs, precce in azabudai hills & the basement at isetan shinjuku both carry imported US & danish brands in the chilled case, just read the label for "thick cut" or "smoked" and not "loin". also worth knowing japanese bacon is often wet-cured so pat it dry before frying or it steams instead of crisping
kaldi coffee farm is hit or miss but their smoked bacon from denmark shows up pretty regular, the 200g pack runs about 600 yen. what actually works better for me is asking the butcher counter at peacock or life to slice the block bacon thick, like 5mm, they do it for free and it crisps way better than the pre-packed stuff. also fwiw cheap bacon crisps faster, the fatty supermarket kind at 300 yen a pack works fine if u cook it from cold in a dry pan and pour off the fat as it renders.
tbh the gyomu super store brand bacon is surprisingly decent for crisping up, its not thick cut but if you cook it low and slow it gets pretty crunchy. the key is the dry cure vs wet cure thing, wet cure steams. also check hanamasa if you have one nearby, they sell big packs of american style bacon thats actually smoked and firm.