TOKYO — On languid bus rides from one Olympic venue to another, a panorama of gustatory pleasures rolls by: noodle joints, skewer shops, sushi counters. We stare at it all through tinted glass: It is like a mirage of the people we are not meeting, and the food we are not eating. Unleashing thousands of foreigners like me, an American journalist covering the Games, into a city — to its restaurants and bars and stores — would be imprudent. Enter the saving grace of these Olympics, the glue holding the whole thing together: Tokyo’s 24-hour convenience stores, or conbini, as they are known in Japan. They have quickly become a primary source of sustenance — and, more surprisingly, culinary enjoyment — for many visitors navigating one of the strangest Games in history.

Source: New York Times August 01, 2021 06:56 UTC