#99 Notable Supermarket "Seijo Ishii"

It is more than a convenience store; it is more like a restaurant, a supermarket that will save you in times of emergency.

Let's say you are a first-time visitor to Japan, arriving at Haneda Airport at 6:00 p.m. after a long flight of over 12 hours. After a long wait at immigration, you arrive at your hotel in Shinjuku at 9:00 p.m. It is almost closing time for major restaurants. It is too much of a hassle to start searching for available restaurants from scratch on the Internet. Now, if you are arriving from the U.S. or Europe and are jet-lagged, you can easily imagine how difficult this situation can be. There is one supermarket that can be your best friend in such a situation. This week, I would like to tell you about that supermarket.

What is Seijo Ishii?

Seijo Ishii was founded in 1927 as a grocery store selling fruits, canned goods, and confections in the culturally rich Setagaya residential area of Seijo, Tokyo. In 1976, Seijo Ishii was reborn as a supermarket. As the company listened to every one of its customers, it expanded its product lineup to include wines, imported cheeses, prepared foods, grocery items, and other unique items, leading to its current form.

Since opening its first store in a station building in 1997, the company has successfully developed a variety of highly profitable store formats, including street stores, station buildings, department stores, shopping center tenants, office buildings, and former convenience store sites.

Gran Gate Tokyo Eki is located inside the ticket gates of Tokyo Station and mainly serves boxed lunches, etc.

The company has steadily increased the number of store openings in recent years, reaching 216 stores in 2023. Most of these stores are concentrated in the major metropolitan areas of Tokyo, Nagoya, and Osaka. From a traveler's perspective, the supermarket should undoubtedly be one they have passed by at some point.

Strengths in store locations and products

As a consumer, I have observed that Seijo Ishii tends to open stores in terminal stations such as JR East and in locations where there are many pedestrians. There is always a new store whenever a new station building is built.

In addition to its location, Seijo Ishii's strength lies in its product lineup, especially its prepared foods and sweets, which are developed in-house factories. The company is constantly increasing the number of its manufacturing plants in the Tokyo metropolitan area to meet the growing demand. Still, even so, it needs to keep up with the market.

The lineup of prepared foods includes pasta dishes, sushi, yakisoba, and many other items familiar to travelers, so I chose to feature them in this newsletter. Since you can heat the food in the store, there is no need to have a microwave oven in the hotel room.

There is a wide variety of Japanese, Western, and Chinese side dishes.

How to make the best of Seijo Ishii

1. If you heat the products at the store and take them home, you can turn them into a delicious dinner.

2. Although the price of prepared foods is about 10% higher than that of regular supermarkets, the taste and satisfaction far outweigh the price premium. You'll feel like you're getting something for your money.

3. The variety of prepared foods and sweets is astonishing. Depending on your mood, you can choose from Japanese, Western, Chinese, and all other genres. The portions are smaller than in Europe and the U.S. but still valuable.

4. The discount sticker can be up to 20%, depending on the time of the day. Although it is limited to expired products, some customers come for the discounted items. Please check it out once before noon or mid-afternoon. There might be a discount at the store you visit.

This photo shows only sweets, but there is a wide variety of other items. Depending on the time, some items may also have an up to 20% discount.

Opening hours

Store hours vary, but most stores near Tokyo Station and Shinjuku Station are open until around 10:00 p.m. The leading stores are listed below, but please take a look at each link for details. Their availability is subject to change, so please check before you visit.

• Seijo: 09:30-23:00

• Tokyo 1 Bangai: 07:30-22:30

• Shin Marunouchi: 07:00-23:00(Weekdays)

• SELECT Shibuya Tokyu Food Show: 10:00-21:00

• Shinjuku LUMINE 2: 07:00-23:00

• Echika Ikebukuro: 07:30-23:00

Finally, Kinokuniya's long-established luxury supermarket has recently opened stores inside JR East stations. With these new forces' appearance, the situation's future is increasingly uncertain. However, at least travelers will have more options, which may be a welcome development.

I hope everyone will make better use of supermarkets like Seijo-Ishii and consider them an option when they don’t have enough time or don’t feel like it.