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Shinjuku Convenience Store Mystery
The sweet smell is from the matcha syrup they use for their kakigori machine. Most people don't know that Daily Yamazaki in Shinjuku has a shaved ice setup in the back during warmer months, and they keep the syrups back there because the machine takes up counter space. As for the purple light, that's the UV sterilizer they run on the ice shaver after cleaning. I used to work at a convenience store in Yotsuya and we had the same setup, the purple glow is pretty distinct once you know what it is.
honestly that sweet smell is probably from the taiyaki warmer they keep in the back. some of the bigger yamazakis in shinjuku have a little prep area for fresh taiyaki and they use a crazy sweet red bean paste. the purple light tho... thats new to me. maybe a UV lamp for cleaning or something? i've never seen the door open myself but i've heard staff talk about "the back" like it's a whole different world back there
Probably just storage. Daily Yamazaki's are usually pretty cramped, so they probably just keep extra stock back there. The sweet smell? Maybe cleaning supplies? Or maybe they're just really good at keeping their stock smelling fresh. The purple light? Yeah, definitely your imagination fueled by late-night onigiri and exhaustion. Don't worry about it too much; it's probably nothing.
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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.