Convenience stores are promoting themselves as a vital community presence amid moves by some local government officials to curb their midnight operations to help combat global warming.
While such restrictions are meant to be voluntary, the Japan Franchise Association says convenience stores that stay open 24 hours serve an essential role as a refuge for potential crime victims or simply for people in need of help.
Convenience stores provide a refuge for lost children or women seeking to escape stalkers, in addition to being places where consumers can shop at any hour, according to the association.
In one case, a young woman fled to a Seven-Eleven store in the city of Saitama late at night in June 2005 after being groped by a man while on her way home from work.