Japan's 7-Eleven, Lawson, and FamilyMart Now Acting as 'Safety Stations' for Women and Children as Police Presence Declines

Japan's convenience stores are quietly taking on responsibilities once handled by neighbourhood police, responding to thousands of emergencies involving women and children each year as the country's network of local police boxes continues to diminish.

A report by Mainichi Shimbun highlights how workers from 7-Eleven, Lawson, FamilyMart, along with smaller local chains, now often face extreme choices during emergencies—situations that have sparked debate over whether store staff should bear such heavy responsibilities when it comes to community safety.

The Numbers Behind the Shift

This shift is driven by a noticeable decline in traditional policing infrastructure. Data from Japan's National Police Agency reveals a decline in koban—small, neighbourhood police posts once considered vital for local security. These posts decreased from 6,455 in 2005 to 6,215 in 2024. The reduction is even sharper for residential subposts, where officers lived alongside their families, which fell from 7,333 to just 5,923 during that period.

Meanwhile, convenience stores have expanded significantly, growing from 42,643 locations in 2005 to 57,019 in 2023. According to the Japan Franchise Association, approximately 56,719 stores are now participating in the 'safety station' programme.

This initiative began regionally in the 1990s before going nationwide in 2005, after the National Police Agency formally requested cooperation. Recognising the potential of 24-hour retail outlets to bolster community safety, authorities saw convenience stores as an extension of local policing efforts.

What Store Employees Now Handle

A survey by the Japan Franchise Association reveals the scale of this informal safety network: at least 4,448 store locations responded to women in crisis across 6,681 incidents during 2023. The most common emergencies occurred between 11pm and 5am, with stalking, approaches by strangers, and domestic violence topping the list of reasons women sought refuge.

Some cases have been harrowing. Store employees have sheltered a junior high school girl fleeing abuse by her father. In another incident, staff saved a mother and child from abduction after the victims passed a note reading 'please call the police' at the register.

The programme covers around 10 categories of assistance, including responding to women and children in crisis, monitoring seniors suspected of suffering from dementia, and preventing youth crime.

When the System Fails

However, the system's flaws became tragically apparent near Asahikawa, Hokkaido, in April 2024. A teenager sought help from staff at a convenience store after becoming trapped inside a car; shortly after, she was reportedly thrown off a bridge by a young adult and died.

The employees did not intervene or contact the police. According to the Mainichi report, the suspected perpetrator entered the store and claimed the victim was 'mentally unsound', and staff accepted this explanation.

The incident has sparked fierce debate. Critics argue that the victim might have survived had staff called authorities. Others counter that store workers, many of whom are part-timers, including foreign nationals and seniors, cannot be expected to provide professional security services.

No Formal Guidelines

When Mainichi questioned the headquarters of 7-Eleven, Lawson, FamilyMart, and Hokkaido-based Seicomart about their protocols, all confirmed they lack incident reporting guidelines or emergency response manuals.

Instead, they rely on a Japan Franchise Association policy stating: 'If a woman who feels she is in danger runs inside looking for help, properly protect her in the store and immediately notify the police.'

Lawson noted that emergency contact numbers are posted in store offices and one-touch security alert systems are installed. However, none of the chains have established concrete measures to prevent interference by perpetrators.

By October 2024, all four companies had conducted awareness-raising activities across their store networks. One executive, speaking to Mainichi, expressed doubt about whether additional rules would make a difference, asserting that 'the most important thing is probably staff awareness of the issues.'

Experts Call for Police Leadership

Some progress is emerging. According to the National Police Agency, 351 police stations across 27 of Japan's 47 prefectures had established 'convenience store support police' systems by August 2024, fostering direct relationships between officers and store staff.

Professor Yuji Namiki, a logistics expert at Hosei University Graduate School specialising in convenience store operations, offered a sobering assessment. 'The sensitivity needed for appropriate judgments is something that's cultivated in daily life, so it's quite harsh to leave it to the judgment of individual store staff,' he told Mainichi.

Namiki urged measures such as relaying real-time security camera footage and audio to police, warning: 'Public safety will not improve unless the police take leadership and the private sector cooperates. The entire country needs to seriously rethink how to maintain local safety as Japan's population declines.'

For women and children fleeing stalkers or abusers into the neon glow of 7-Eleven, Lawson, or FamilyMart at midnight, this shift from traditional policing cannot be sustained without systemic overhaul. The stakes are life or death. Rethinking community safety now is a necessity, not an option.