Convenience stores in Japan are known for truly living up to their name, providing a multitude of services such as being a place to pay your bills, ship packages, and buy some surprisingly delicious food such as Final Fantasy fried chicken. They're also known to be a quick and affordable pit-stop to grab an alcoholic beverage for those in the mood for a drink.

While you'll often find a weary salaryman downing a beer outside a convenience store after a hard day of work, drinking alcohol within a convenience store's "eat-in corner" is generally frowned upon and often prohibited. The Hakata Station station branch of Poplar convenience stores in Fukuoka is discarding that rule in as fancy a style as they can, however, opening up Japan's first ever bar within a convenience store.

The new standing bar space is actually a collaboration with bar Osake no Bijutsukan (Museum of Alcohol), and will offer over 1,000 types of drinks, the cheapest priced at 500 yen. Obviously, only those of legal age can enter, and the bar space offers customers the option of bringing in snacks purchased at the convenience store, as well as ordering drinks from the bar's lineup or the store itself. Those behind the venture say the purpose is to allow customers to affordably sample rare types of alcohol in a retro-style bar.

Opened on March 6th, the Hakata Station location is currently the only operating bar. However, Osake no Bijutsukan views the drinking hole as a way to appeal to foreign tourists, and intends to open 5 more soon in the Kyoto area, and 100 more nationwide within the next 3 years.