It’s hard to escape the magnetic field of Japanese convenience store food. Onigiri stuffed with tuna and mayonnaise, fluffy egg salad sandwiches, and other convenience store snacks have permeated nearly every corner of the internet. Now, stateside fans may finally get a taste of these affordable bites without needing to buy plane tickets to Japan. 7-Eleven has confirmed to Eater that it plans to bring Japanese and other international favorites to U.S. stores.
In a statement to Eater, 7-Eleven said that the U.S. arm of the company is working closely with its international counterparts in Japan and beyond to introduce new items, including chicken teriyaki rice balls, miso ramen, and sweet chile crisp wings, to its stateside stores. Additional items from international markets that are headed to the U.S. include Mangonada donuts with Tajin, barbecue pork sliders, and chicken curry bowls.
In February, Bloomberg noted in a report that Ryuichi Isaka, CEO of 7-Eleven parent company Seven & I Holdings, believes the Japanese 7-Eleven model can be duplicated in the U.S. His focus is on bringing fresher foods to U.S. stores, including sliders, ham-egg-and-cheese french toast, and chicken salad sandwiches. The report also details Isaka’s hopes that stateside 7-Eleven offerings will eventually be able to rotate seasonally, as they do in Japan.
Although the famous Japanese 7-Eleven egg salad sando wasn’t on the initial list of Japanese items coming to the U.S., TikTok creators from across Orange County have reported sightings of milk bread egg sandwiches at local stores. On July 24, TikTok creator Greenonionbun posted a video showing the egg salad sandwich she found at a local 7-Eleven; a day later, Arioutdoors posted a similar video of an egg salad sando from a Garden Grove 7-Eleven.
Priced at $5.99, the sandwich comes with egg salad made with mayonnaise and Dijon, and is served on milk bread. In contrast to the Japanese version, the egg salad sandwich at U.S. locations is served with the crust still on; the original’s crust is neatly trimmed off. While the U.S. version costs almost $6, the Japanese sandwich hovers at around 238 yen, or $1.55, based on current exchange rates. Previously, the 7-Eleven egg salad sandwich was served on white bread, and the online catalog listing has not been updated to reflect the milk bread yet. 7-Eleven confirmed that the introduction of the milk bread sandwiches is part of this shift to offering fresher food and tailoring options to the local market.
This isn’t the first time Japanese konbini culture has cropped up in Los Angeles: Japan’s FamilyMart introduced Famima, a Japanese-style convenience store, to the U.S. market with locations throughout LA beginning in 2006. During its tenure, Famima sold items including onigiri, fried chicken, steamed pork buns, and pre-packaged bento boxes. The company couldn’t make it last, though, with all Famima locations shuttering by October 2015.
Interest in Japanese convenience stores, or konbini, has spiked online in recent months. As of July 2024, there are over 152 million posts on TikTok about konbini food, drink, and snacks. Most involve creators doing an on-screen taste test or showing off a product haul, often with a cost total at the end. The proliferation of these videos has stimulated a new audience who are waiting for the chance to try the now-famous famichiki and pancake sandwich.
In Los Angeles, restaurants like the now-closed Konbi and Katsu Sando have helped bring a taste of Japanese convenience store tradition to the city with their more upscale katsu sandwiches. Supermarkets like Nijiya and Mitsuwa also offer a prepared foods section similar to what would be found at a konbini, but don’t offer the 24-hour access to go along with it. With the arrival of Japanese convenience store classics in stateside 7-Elevens, Angelenos may finally get a taste of the konbini life complete with late-night hours and plastic-wrapped rice balls.
Any skepticism about the sudden arrival of viral sandwiches in the Southland may point to a Bay Area 7-Eleven hoax from earlier this year. In March 2024, a thread on X that claimed 7-Eleven stores in San Francisco had started selling Mayor London Breed-branded onigiri took the region by storm. Stateside fans of the triangle-shaped rice and seaweed balls found in convenience stores across Japan hoped they could get a taste after watching numerous TikToks from creators doing live mayo onigiri taste tests. But almost as soon as the rumor caught on, it was dispelled. The creator of the thread, Danielle Baskin, ended up being a local conceptual artist who wanted to show proof of concept that Japanese-style convenience foods could work in the U.S.
7-Eleven has not given a timeline for the new products to arrive in stores, and has not indicated which stores will be getting the new items.