When I first moved to Australia, I noticed I couldn’t easily find a vending machine. I can find it in the train stations, but not elsewhere. However, It can be found everywhere in Japan. The vending machine is really popular, There are more than 2.7 million vending machines in Japan. One of the reasons why there are a lot of vending machines is the good security in Japan. It also has evolved uniquely, and nowadays it has various functions.

2 What is special about Japanese vending machines?

Japanese vending machine has a lot of Items. It is not only drinks, but they also sells food, seasoning, daily use items, and more. We can buy almost anything from the vending machines. In addition, a Japanese vending machine can buy hot and cold items on the same machine. It also changes cold drinks and hot drinks depending on the season, so when it is in winter, it sells more hot drinks. 

There are also vending machines using digital touch displays, It is often used in stations. It is high-tech and the vending machine shows the drink it recommends on the display, as well as the weather forecast.
In addition, payment on vending machines is really easy! We can use electronic payment such as Apple Pay, Google Pay, and public transport cards for the trains and buses (like paying with Myki card) and the newest vending machine we can pay items in advance by using the app. 

Unique vending machine Items!

Dashi

Dashi is Japanese soup stock, often used in Japanese food. We can buy dashi from the vending machine. This dashi vending machine is set up by the dashi company dashi douraku. There is a notice written in English on the machine to prevent people from drinking it by mistake.

SAKE

You can also drink several types of sake from vending machines. This vending machine is in a shop called Tokyo Shouten in EDO Noren in Tokyo. There are small sake cups in the store, and you can stand and drink your sake at one of the six small tables.

ICE CREAM

It sells all year round and it has a nice variety of flavours, so you can pick what you like. The ice cream is designed to make it easy to eat while walking around.

Banana

DOLE placed a banana vending machine. You can easily buy a banana whenever you like and It is really good for people who forgot to eat breakfast and for people looking for a healthy snack. This machine also has a function to keep the banana fresh.

Udon and Soba

You can eat warm udon and soba from vending machine.

Japanese vending machine have awesome designs

Japanese vending machines have unique designs, there are sometimes collaboration with popular cartoon characters like the photo above. Drink cans can also have special designs, so when you buy the drink, it is not just for drinking, you can enjoy the cute designs. These cute designs are also popular with young people, so they are more likely to buy from the vending machine.

Vending machines are really convenient and is an indispensable thing in Japan.

If you have the opportunity to go to Japan, please check out Japanese vending machines and see if you can find some unique ones.

Writer: Yuki Takatani

Reference:

*1 日本自動販売システム機械工業会
*2 acure, コカコーラ自販機で「クレカのタッチ決済」利用可能に、NFC A/B対応
*3 ねとらぼ, WOW! JAPAN