в–ј Congratulations to 7-Eleven, the winner of this onigiri showdown!ДЄfter sniffing and tasting the contents of each rice ball, Mr Sato now found himself with a plethora of onigiri cross-sections in front of him. This gave it a different look and a different flavour, expressing the chainвЂ™s commitment to individuality and quality. The one that Mr Sato thought was most impressive was 7-ElevenвЂ™s plum rice ball, which contains aged umeboshi plums. The Sea вЂ‹вЂ‹Chicken in particular was more plentiful, packing in a lot more mayonnaise than the other two, and 7-ElevenвЂ™s Kelp variety was equally impressive, as the ingredients were all tightly gathered in the centre, giving it a better balance of flavour. And judging by their appearances, we have to agree heвЂ™s right.

Which convenience store rice balls struck you as being the best overall?ДЇor Mr Sato, he felt that the 7-Eleven rice balls had more ingredients than the others in general. в–ј FamilyMartВ 110 yen and 107 grams LawsonВ 111 yen and 101 grams 7-ElevenВ 110 yen and 108 grams в–ј Family MartВ 139 yen and 102 grams LawsonВ 139 yen and 105 grams 7-ElevenВ 140 yen and 105gramsДЄnd finally, the Kelp, which is all sourced from Hokkaido. Now for the Spicy Cod Roe, or вЂњCured Spicy Cod RoeвЂќ as itвЂ™s known at Lawson: в–ј FamilyMartВ 139 yen and 105 grams LawsonВ 139 yen and 103 grams 7-ElevenВ 140 yen and 104 grams в–ј Family MartВ 115 yen and 106 grams LawsonВ 115 yen and 113 grams 7-ElevenВ 115 yen and 119 gramsДЄnd the Sockeye Salmon, which is labelled as вЂњcuredвЂќ in the Lawson and 7-Eleven varieties. Next up, letвЂ™s take a look at the вЂњ Sea Chicken MayonnaiseвЂќ, as Lawson calls it, or вЂњ Tuna MayonnaiseвЂќ as itвЂ™s known at Family Mart and 7-Eleven. в–ј (Left to right): Family MartВ 115 yen (US$1.01) and 102 grams (3.6 ounces) LawsonВ 116 yen and 99 grams 7-ElevenВ 115 yen and 102 grams Visually, all of the rice balls looked quite different, but the price and weight of each one (without theВ packaging and seaweed) were pretty similar. So letвЂ™s take a look at the cross-sections of all the convenience store rice balls, starting with the plum-filled ones, which all contain the acclaimed Nanko Ume plum variety from Kishu, modern-day Wakayama Prefecture, although the 7-Eleven variety uses aged plums. The varieties Mr Sato purchased were: Plum, Sea Chicken, Salmon, Spicy Cod Roe, and Kelp.В All of them were priced in the 100-yen (US$0.88) range, and to really assess them properly, Mr Sato removed their seaweed wrappings and sliced them vertically through their centres.

в–ј A beautiful sight for any rice ball lover! So he picked up five rice balls from each chain, all with the same fillings, to see how they fared next to each other. This year, Mr Sato decided to repeat the experiment, but this time with convenience store onigiri.

Last year, we verified the contents of all the sandwiches being sold by JapanвЂ™s top three convenience store chains - Lawson, Family Mart, and 7-Eleven - by opening them up and examining their insides. Mr Sato gives us his verdict, and stumbles upon the Onigi Remix - a new way to combine them and eat them all!

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