Check out Seicomart - the Hokkaido convenience store offering something unique!
This convenience store chain now has the largest number of stores in Hokkaido. The Niseko Hirafu location is extremely successful during the winter season with long lines crowding the inside - and over 90% of the customers are from abroad! Anywhere else in Japan, this number of international customers in a convenient store would be a rare sight.
While this is a convenient store, they offer products not commonly seen in other shops, such as original products that are created using Hokkaido’s local materials and ingredients. Seicomart also offers a variety of prepared dishes and fresh foods, a distinguishing feature that separates them from other convenience stores. Another signature difference is that many of these stores are not open 24 hours a day!
Filled with original products!
Starting with the popular Hokkaido milk, this store also offers its own original juice, alcohols, ice-cream and other desserts, cup noodles, bread, snacks, and even their own delicatessen. In all, Seicomart offers over 1000 original brand products.
Many of the products are made using ingredients from Hokkaido, making these items not only affordable but also high in quality.
The hot food menu offered inside
When thinking about convenience stores, you may think of meal options that are microwavable or just plain cold. At Seicomart, however, the hot food menu is handmade in the kitchen inside the store, sold fresh and hot. They also offer products that do not use any preservatives, synthetic colorants, or artificial sweeteners. It is strange to even consider these a convenient store meal at this level of quality that is also easy on your wallet!
The Niseko Hirafu shop is filled with international imports!
The Niseko Hirafu shop is crowded with visitors of various nationalities every day, and so the store orders and imports overseas foods and other items to satisfy the needs of their customers.
Freshly baked croissants
Croissants are baked every day in the shop and are quite the popular choice. The crunch of the crisp bread followed by the aroma and taste of butter spreads throughout your senses, giving this product a deliciousness that is hard to imagine as convenience-store quality.
There is also a fully automated espresso machine in the store where you can purchase freshly ground, brewed coffee starting from 100 yen. Finishing breakfast with a hot cup of coffee before you hit the slopes is sure to make your time more enjoyable.
Deli items
Hokkaido is a treasure trove of wonderful ingredients. This original deli brand available at Seicomart offers a surprising number of dishes in a large variety of ethnicities, from Japanese to Western, and anything in-between! In addition to these wallet-friendly prices, their popular pasta dishes can be purchased with only 100 yen! Of course, they are full in flavor offering a quality dish at a reasonable price.
Automated currency exchange
With the resort area so close to the slopes, it would normally take a considerable amount of time and effort to go to the bank to exchange more money. To help solve this they have installed automated currency exchange machines. This helps eliminates those issues for foreign tourists visiting the Niseko Hirafu Seicomart. To find a convenience store with these machines, even in larger cities, is a rare sight to see!
Seicomart Nisekohiramu
〒044-0081 北海道虻田郡倶知安町字山田190／190, Yamada, Kutchan-cho Abuta-gun, Hokkaido, 044-0081, Japan
0136-23-3271
Hours of operation: 6: 30-23: 00
Open 365 days a year
photo & text: Natsuko Matsumura
