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Shinjuku 7-Eleven Enigma
It's real about the size, but the legend gets inflated by tourists filming everything. I live in Shinjuku and that 7-Eleven is basically a logistical hub for the area, the restock trucks pull up every few hours and it's like watching an ant colony work.
If you want the actual weird Tokyo combini experience, walk south toward Yotsuya and find the 7-Eleven near the fire station on Meiji-dori. It's small and looks normal, but they have a fresh takoyaki station in the back that runs until midnight. The smell hits you before you even open the door.
tbh that 7-Eleven is more of a spectacle than a practical stop. the size is legit but it's mostly just a wider selection of the same stuff you'd find anywhere else. what really surprised me is how much bento and onigiri they sell through in a day, the racks get restocked like every hour.
if you want something actually weird, check out the Don Quijote a few blocks west on Yasukuni-dori. they've got a whole floor of random crap that makes 7-Eleven look boring. the 24/7 thing is real though, almost every combini in Tokyo runs that schedule, not just the big ones.
I've been through that 7-Eleven a few times, mostly out of morbid curiosity. It's not a labyrinth, just a really wide one with an impressive drink wall and a hot food counter that actually has seats. The novelty wears off fast when you realize it's still just a combini, just with more foot traffic.
If you want a truly disorienting convenience store experience, go to the Ampm near the east exit of Shinjuku station, the one tucked under the overpass. It's two floors and half the space is a do-it-yourself frozen dessert bar with machines you operate yourself. That one feels like it's breaking the rules of what a combini should be.
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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.