Printing at a Japanese Konbini: NetPrint, Tickets, and the Japanese to Get It Done

Hi everyone! Sakura here 🌸 — from Japan.

If you're traveling or living in Japan, the konbini (convenience store) multi-function printer is your best friend. Boarding pass, photo, PDF, even Ghibli Museum tickets — all handled by a single machine you'll find on every block.

Let me walk you through it.

🏪 Two big systems

There are two main konbini print systems and which app you use depends on the chain:

7-Eleven: uses 'netprint'
Lawson + FamilyMart: share 'Network Print Service'

Knowing these two covers nearly any konbini in Japan.

📖 Print-related vocabulary

Word	Reading	Meaning
印刷いんさつ	insatsu	printing
予約番号よやくばんごう	yoyaku bangō	reservation number
持もち込こみ	mochikomi	bringing your own (USB, etc.)
備そなえ付つけ	sonaetsuke	provided / built-in

📲 How it works, step by step

The usual flow is upload from your phone → walk to the konbini → punch in a number. Easy.

Install the app for the konbini you'll visit.
Upload your file (photo or PDF).
Note the reservation number (~8 digits) the app gives you.
At the konbini multi-function printer, choose Internet Print on the screen and enter the number.

💡 Tip: 7-Eleven has two apps — 'netprint' (signup required) and 'かんたん netprint' (no signup). For travelers, use かんたん netprint to skip the registration.

🖼️ Photo printing vs document printing

The screen will ask what kind of paper. Get this right or your photo will print on terrible regular paper.

📖 Paper / color terminology

Japanese	Reading	Meaning
普通紙ふつうし	futsūshi	regular paper (A4, B5)
写真用紙しゃしんようし	shashin yōshi	photo paper
光沢紙こうたくし	kōtakushi	glossy paper (thicker doc paper)
白黒しろくろ	shirokuro	black & white
フルカラー	furukarā	full color

⚠️ For photos, always pick 写真用紙 / 写真プリント — not 普通紙. The quality difference is night and day.

🎫 Tickets: Loppi and the FamilyMart multi-copier

A Japanese specialty: konbini terminals issue tickets for concerts, Ghibli Museum, theme parks, and tons more. Lawson's terminal is called Loppi; FamilyMart uses its multi-copier (formerly FamiPort).

When you book online, you'll get an email with a 引換票番号ひきかえひょうばんごう (exchange ticket number) or QR. Scan or type it into the konbini terminal → it prints a slip → take that slip to the cashier → pay → ticket printed.

🗣️ When things go wrong

Paper jam, wrong file, machine eating your coins — say:

📝 Common help phrases

すみません、紙かみが詰つまってしまいました。 — Sorry, the paper's jammed.
印刷いんさつがうまくいきません。 — The printing isn't working right.
お金かねが戻もどってきません。 — My coins didn't come back.

✨ Sakura's takeaway

7-Eleven → かんたん netprint for travelers. Lawson/FamilyMart → Network Print app.
Upload, get number, type number — that's the whole flow.
Photos: always pick 写真用紙.
Tickets: book online → use the konbini terminal with your exchange number.

Once you've done it once, every trip becomes easier. 🌸