The first store in Japan was opened in 1974 - the Toyosu Store in Koto-ku, Tokyo. One year later, the first 24-hours store was opened, the Toramaru Store in Koriyama, Fukushima Prefecture.
During the 1980s, 7-Eleven run into several financial troubles. It was first rescued by its largest franchisee, the Japanese chain Ito-Yokado, but later suffered after the "Black Monday" market crash from 1987 and in 1991 the controlling share was acquired by the Japanese company. Finally, in 2005 Ito-Yokado became the Seven & I Holdings Co. and 7-Eleven became its subsidiary.
In 2011, from a total of 40000 stores, over 13000 were located in Japan and about 1700 of them in Tokyo. No wonder that the 7-Eleven konbini can be seen almost everywhere in Tokyo, like this store from Sumida, photographed here in a sunny summer day (after I run into it for an ice-cream):
EXIF info:
Nikon D90
Lens: VR 18-55mm F/3.5-5.6G
Focal Length: 18mm
Aperture: F/5.6
Shutter Speed: 1/1200s
ISO Sensitivity: ISO 200