2018.12.28 2025.11.12

The mystery of the Daily Yamazaki Triangle emerging at Iwamotocho intersection

Akihabara BC

What comes to mind when you think of a convenience store?
Seven-Eleven, Family Mart, Lawson...
Daily Yamazaki is a relatively minor convenience store in Tokyo.
There is an area where there are many Daily Yamazaki stores within sight. Its name is... Iwamotocho intersection.

INDEX

■ 3 Daily Yamazaki restaurants within a 50m radius
■The headquarters building of Yamazaki Baking, the parent of Lunch Pack and owner of Daily Yamazaki
■ [Closed] Lunch pack specialty store expands to Akihabara Station Central Exit
- ■Our top recommendation is Daily Yamazaki Kanda Iwamotocho store

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■ 3 Daily Yamazaki restaurants within a 50m radius

Iwamotocho is a major intersection where Yasukuni-dori and Showa-dori intersect.
The road, where major national highways connecting the city and its surrounding areas intersect, is constantly bustling with cars and pedestrians from morning to night.
It's a somewhat complicated, scramble-like intersection with a delta in the middle.

It is literally a prime location, just 3 minutes from the Showa-dori exit of Akihabara Station and less than 10 minutes from Kanda Station, with a vast office area.
There are three Daily Yamazaki stores at this intersection.
It's no longer just "there is," but "there is."
Within a radius of just 50 meters on either side of the intersection, three Daily Yamazaki stores, a rare sight in Tokyo, crowd together, crowding out the other convenience stores.

First, head towards the intersection on Showa-dori Street, and cross the Kanda River to the south of Izumibashi, where you will find the Daily Yamazaki Iwamotocho Izumibashi store.

Next, just before entering the intersection, right next to the busy A3 exit of Iwamotocho Station on the subway, is the Daily Yamazaki Kanda Iwamotocho store. This is a large store with an in-house bakery.

A little further from the intersection towards Ryogoku is the Daily Yamazaki Iwamotocho 3-chome store, which is also quite large and has a good selection of products.

Yes, all of the Daily Yamazaki stores are within a two-minute walk. Even if you add in the time it takes to get to the traffic lights, it's less than five minutes between each store.
Why is it so crowded together?
The answer was at the intersection, in the center of the three stores.

■The headquarters building of Yamazaki Baking, the parent of Lunch Pack and owner of Daily Yamazaki

When you look around Iwamotocho intersection, the first thing that catches your eye is a tall building.
You may not notice it much because of the presence of Chiba Gin below, but please take a closer look.

To be honest, this building is the headquarters of Daily Yamazaki, Yamapan.
I was hoping for a more traditional look, but it was actually very chic.
The entrance is sometimes illuminated depending on the season, but it basically has the feel of a typical office building.
Yamazaki Baking, which was founded in Ichikawa City, Chiba Prefecture in 1948, moved to Iwamotocho in 1973. This was the year after Super Yamazaki, the predecessor to Daily Yamazaki, was established, and the year before 7-Eleven, which became synonymous with convenience stores, entered the Japanese market.
Since then, Iwamotocho has been under Yamapan's control, and it was only natural that Daily Yamazaki, which continues to expand its stores, would open a store there.
Of the 1,553 Daily Yamazaki stores nationwide (as of December 2018), it is no surprise that three are located here.
By the way, the number of Daily Yamazaki stores is only 7% of that of Seven-Eleven, which has approximately 2 stores.
With three Daily Yamazaki stores located together, can you imagine how concentrated the Daily Yamazaki Triangle is?

■ [Closed] Lunch pack specialty store expands to Akihabara Station Central Exit

Daily Yamazaki as a convenience store is a minor chain, but Yamapan products are actually a major bread brand.
It's probably rare to find someone who has never seen a Lunch Pack.
Including local lunch packs, there are currently 52 varieties on sale according to statistics from December 2018.
There are 33 varieties from all over the country and 19 regional varieties.
In other words, if you live a normal life, you won't even see the existence of 19 types of lunch packs.

The Lunch Pack SHOP "TX Akihabara Store" is where you can find all the Lunch Packs, including local Lunch Packs, all in one place.
You can get almost all Lunch Packs except for those that are only available at convenience stores.
The current Lunch Pack stock is announced on the Lunch Pack Facebook account, so if there's a local item that catches your eye, it's worth checking.
https://www.facebook.com/lunchpack.jp/posts/1709838142446602

1-6-10 Kanda Sakumacho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 101-0025
Tsukuba Express Akihabara Station B1F, outside the ticket gates
Business hours: [Weekdays] 7:00 - 20:00 [Saturdays and Sundays] 9:00 - 19:00 *Open all year round
TEL: 03-5289-3992

■Our top recommendation is Daily Yamazaki Kanda Iwamotocho store

Of the three stores in Triangle, our top pick is the large Daily Yamazaki Kanda Iwamotocho store, which has a bakery inside.
It goes without saying that the freshly baked bread at the bakery is delicious.
The recommendation here is "Kami Anpan".
Bakeries that serve freshly baked bread sell anpan (bean buns) branded with the store's name.
The Kanda Iwamotocho store is simply... "God."

The appearance of this anpan makes it a worthy topic of conversation, but the taste is of course not on the level of convenience store bread.
First of all, the dough itself is chewy.
The dough alone is delicious!

It is topped with a generous amount of red bean paste and fresh cream.
At first glance, it may seem like there's too much added, but it's not too sweet and has just the right amount.
As expected, it truly lives up to its name, "God Anpan."
This is an excellent product that will undoubtedly be a hit as a souvenir, both in appearance and taste.