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Shinjuku 7-Eleven Enigma
3am at the shinjuku grand plaza 7eleven is less about subculture and more about the quiet dignity of people just existing. you'll see a few guys in suits who missed the last train sitting on the curb outside with a canned coffee, staring at their phones. inside it's mostly tourists who can't sleep and the staff doing their restock dance. if you want a better song subject, walk 2 mins to the tokyo metropolitan building and watch the all nighters queueing for the free observatory at dawn, that's where the real weirdos hang out
The Grand Plaza 7-Eleven is big, sure, but the real spectacle is the 24-hour Don Quijote across the street. That place has a whole floor of anime figures, a roller coaster of a staircase, and the same fluorescent chaos but with a karaoke machine on the second floor. At 3am the 7-Eleven is mostly people staring at the hot food case like it holds the secrets of the universe. If you want a song, stand outside there for 30 minutes and watch the taxi drivers negotiate the corner.
ngl the sheer scale is impressive but the vibe at 3am is mostly just fluorescent exhaustion. there's a cluster of homeless guys who hang around the entrance near the coin lockers, they're usually pretty chill. the real magic is watching the staff restock the onigiri section with military precision. if you want actual subculture energy at that hour, walk 5 mins to golden gai and catch the stragglers outside the tiny bars
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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.