What makes Japanese convenience stores so amazing is their variety. Inside, you’ll find not only snacks like chips and ice cream, but tasty bento boxed lunches, bottles of hot tea, and onigiri rice balls.
And as if all that wasn’t enough, convenience store chain Lawson is giving us one more reason to stop by: a fried chicken-cooking robot.
This 153.8-centimeter tall pinnacle of technology cooks Lawson’s Karaage-kun brand of bite-sized fried chicken morsels. One of Japan’s favorite snacks, Karaage-kun is so loved that the chain sells about 20 billion pieces annually (each pack contains five pieces). As with all Japanese snacks, there’s a constantly evolving list of limited-time flavors, like pitch-black Black Hole and Dragon Quest healing magic.
The first Freshly Cooked Karaage-kun Robo model will be installed at Lawson’s TOC Osaki branch in Tokyo, with its first day on the job being Tuesday. The designers say its automated cooking procedure is 80 percent faster than the conventional method, allowing each and every customer to enjoy speedy cooked-to-order fried chicken.
