7-Eleven, and Lawson stores in Japan, will be removing adult magazines from their shelves. The decision to remove the adult magazines was in preparations for Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, also in hopes of being able to make the store more welcoming to everyone of all ages. 7-Eleven and Lawson Convenience stores in Japan are well known for selling different varieties of items, from food to everyday essentials. Kyodo reporting shows that there are approximately 20,000 7-Eleven stores and approximately 14,000 Lawson stores across Japan. The announcement stated the discontinued of stocking adult-oriented magazines but adult manga magazines were not specifically mentioned. This movement will affect approximately 20,000 7-Eleven store locations nationwide. Adult magazines make up less than 1% of stores sales, and women make up approximately 50% of the stores’ clientele.
In an interview between (Tokyo) Reuters and the 7-Eleven Japan Co. spokesman stated that,
“In the past, 7-Eleven was mostly used by male customers to buy beverages and fast food, and our product assortment was designed accordingly.”
“However, as the role and usage of 7-Eleven stores has changed in recent years, 7-Eleven became an important shopping destination for families, children and elder people as well.
“In order to create a proper shopping environment for all our customers, we decided to stop handling sales of adult magazines.
“We also considered the increasing number of foreign customers during the upcoming Rugby World Cup and the Olympics.”
7-Eleven Japan Co. spokesman also stated that they would stop selling adult magazines nationwide by the end of August of 2019. Convenience stores in Japan are very popular, Kyodo reporting states that the total spending in the seven major convenience store chains topped 10.96 trillion yen ($100.13 billion) in 2018 with 1.34 billion visitors nationwide in December alone. With Japan hosting the upcoming Rugby World Cup in September 2019 followed by the summer Olympics starting in July of 2020. Removing the adult-oriented magazine to help increase and maintain a positive image of the country among visiting foreigners
Sources: Reuters, Anime News Network
