Japanese Vending Machines – Dispense Almost Anything!
One thing that I spotted my my G Adventures trip were the abundance of Vending Machines in Japan that one could buy almost anything from. And I mean almost anything!
And it’s not just junk food either, like this big line up of Vending Machines which are a common sight on any Tokyo street or lane. That’s right, if you can buy something in a normal shop, you can probably obtain the same goods in a vending machine after hours!
Kinds of Vending Machines in Japan
There are all sorts of Vending Machines. For example, how about a bowl of cooked noodles from the Noodle Vending Machine if you’re feeling a bit hungry at the train station.
Look how many kinds of noodles you can choose from! Insane!
But this is my personal favourite – the beer vending machine!
That’s right, there are vending machines in the street that can dispense beer at any time that you want.
So if you want beer for breakfast – just walk down the road and slot in a few yen, and you’ve got your carbohydrate intake for the day. Or if you wake up in the middle of the night, why not pop out for a quick drink?
Now imagine if Beer Vending Machines were present in Western (that is, binge drinking!) countries. Everyone would be rat arsed in the street every day! The Gross Domestic Product would be halved immediately as soon as one of these beer vending machines was installed!
But I never saw anyone staggering in the street in Japan. There’s obviously some cultural thing going on that prevents this disorderly thing going on.
It was a real novelty for me to buy a beer can from a vending machine, open it, and walk down the street without being arrested!
More Vending Machine Stuff
For more stuff on Vending Machines, check out the Koolatron CVF18 10-Can-Capacity Vending Fridge
10 Comments
Cal · at
The Beer Vending Machine is the Epitome of all of Mankind’s Creations!
Anthony The Travel Tart · at
one of the best inventions EVER!
flipnomad · at
i remember a post about vending machines in Japan selling used panties… real crazy and weird though LOL
Anthony The Travel Tart · at
vending machines makes Japan work! Crazy stuff
Kevin Kato · at
Didn’t see any drunken salarymen stumbling through the streets? Try harder!! Actually it is not at all uncommon. (What would be uncommon would be for any of them to be impolitely drunk.)
I would, however, guess that you were the only one walking the street drinking a beer (unless you were in Roppongi which would be a tragedy in its own way). Stumbling around drunk? No problem. Walking down the street drinking a beer? Faux pas. Wonderful, incongruous Japan.
By the way Flipnomad you’ll hear a million people say they heard about used panties in vending machines in Japan, bet you’ll never hear anyone say they saw any themselves. Urban legend methinks.
Anthony The Travel Tart · at
I didn’t see any drunk salarymen at all! Spewing! I also want to expand my vending machine photo collection, I only saw the common stuff!
Filip Henryk · at
Amazing post, its totally different, however, guess that you were the only one walking the street drinking a beer (unless you were in Roppongi which would be a tragedy in its own way). Stumbling around drunk? No problem. Keep up the good work.
Edmaration · at
Japan has few sales ladies, that’s more of vending machine… No chance to see beautiful Japanese Sales ladies! LOL!
Jade · at
This is hilarious and fun
chinamatt · at
Seriously, why can’t we have beer vending machines in the US? That’s reason enough for me to move to Japan.