The welcoming calls of the staff stacking shelves trill out, mixing with cheery robotic jingles and automated voices announcing seasonal specials over the speakers. The soft, warm scent of fried chicken permeates the air, complemented by the hum of brightly lit refrigerators, the sliding glass doors and the occasional beep of a barcode scanner. To enter a Japanese convenience store (known colloquially as a konbini) is to experience an irresistible microcosm of stimulation that tingles the senses.