Supermarket Shelf Distribution Dataset: Green Tea and Cup Noodles in Three Anonymized Supermarkets in Tokyo, Japan (2025–2026)

This dataset contains 727 observations of the shelf distribution of green tea and cup noodles recorded at three anonymized supermarkets in Tokyo, Japan, between December 2, 2025 and June 14, 2026. The dataset comprises 221 observations of green tea and 506 observations of cup noodles. The data were collected for a study examining the limited distribution of goods on supermarket shelves from the perspective of Material Culture Macroecology (MME). Variables include observation date, anonymized store ID, shelf environment, product ID and name, brand, product category, price, unit size, standardized price per 100 g or 100 ml, number of facings, and promotional status. Shelf environments are coded as follows: E1 = end shelf; E2 = eye level; E3a–E3d = lower shelf positions; and E3z = lowest shelf. When E1 is recorded, a second environment ID indicates the shelf position with which the end-shelf display is associated. The names and directly identifying information of the surveyed supermarkets have been removed. The three stores are represented only by anonymized identifiers (SM_01, SM_02, and SM_03). Product and brand names are provided in Latin-script form to facilitate international reuse of the dataset. This dataset accompanies research on the distribution of material goods in contemporary supermarket environments and is intended to facilitate transparency, reproducibility, and future comparative analyses within Material Culture Macroecology.