Samの英語チャンネル

Family Mart proves once again that Japanese convenience stores have everything.

No matter how well-packed you think you are when traveling overseas, there’s always the chance that it won’t be until after you arrive that you find out there’s something else you should have brought with you. That was the situation Uzbekistan’s men’s volleyball team found itself in when they reached Nagoya prior to their opening match in the currently ongoing 2026 Asian Games, and discovered that they needed socks.

The problem wasn’t that no one on the team had packed socks, but that different members of the team had packed different kinds. It turns out that the Asian Games’ uniforms regulations include a clause that all players must wear socks with a color, length, and pattern that matches their teammates’.

They needed to address the situation as quickly as possible, but when the team took the court for their opening match against Japan on September 27, not only did the Uzbekistani players’ socks match each other, they also featured the blue, white, and green color scheme of their country’s flag.

▼ September 27 match between Uzbekistan and Japan

▼ Flag of Uzbekistan

So did the Uzbekistani team arrange for an overnight air shipment of socks from home? Did they manage to find an all-night textile mill and arrange for a customized rush order?

Nope. They just did what anybody’s first move should be when you suddenly need something in Japan: they went shopping at a Japanese convenience store. Luckily, there happened to be one right by the hotel they were staying out, and even more luckily, it was a branch of Family Mart…

…and yet more luckily still, Family Mart just so happens to sell socks with stirpes in the chain’s image colors, which are also blue, white, and green!

Even that wasn’t the full extent of the team’s luck, because in addition to their appropriate aesthetics, Family Mart’s socks are known for their high quality. In recent years, Family Mart has been elevating its apparel items beyond something that you’d only wear in an emergency, with its Convenience Wear line getting thumbs up from satisfied customers for its comfort and durability. The socks in question are officially called the Line Socks Combini White and are priced at 429 yen (US$2.70) a pair, so they didn’t even put much of a dent in the team’s travel expenses.

▼ We’re fans ourselves.

Japan loves watching its teams compete in international sporting events, and TV viewers were happy to see Japan win the September 27 match in straight sets, but many also couldn’t take their eyes off the Uzbekistani team’s socks and wonder about the possible convenience store connection. In an interview, two players later confirmed that they had indeed sourced that part of their uniforms from Family Mart, and the company has said that it’s happy to have been of assistance on such a major stage as the sporting event.

Maybe this sudden surge in interest for Family Mart’s image-color socks will lead the chain to reissue its mini socks for use on ice cream containers, but even if they don’t, their new line of socks representing all 47 prefectures of Japan still gives lots of options to choose from.

Source: Mainichi Shimbun (1, 2), The Digest, Asian Games, Family Mart
Top image ©SoraNews24
Insert images: Wikipedia/Dmdjdu, SoraNews24, Family Mart
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Source: SORA NEWS24