09.05.07
Vending Machines Galore!
 |
| The caption to this shot might as well read “an image of every single street corner in Tokyo.” You literally cannot walk 30 seconds in Tokyo without running to a vending machine, if not 5. |
Before I took my trip to Japan, I had read that Tokyo has more vending machines than any other city on the planet. At the time I read this statistic I did not fully comprehend what this means. One of the first observations I made in Tokyo is that you literally cannot walk 30 seconds without seeing a vending machine…or 3 or 4 vending machines right next to one another. The machines mainly sell drinks such as water, fruit juice, green tea, and beer. Each vending machine also has at least one full row of various sugary coffee drinks which I was told are quite popular with Japanese office workers putting in 10 plus hour days. The convenience of vending machines almost became too convenient for me, as I was consuming about 5 or 6 drinks per day during my 3 day stay in Tokyo. On my first day there I drank 2 Dr. Peppers, a grape Fanta, a Qoo banana milk drink, 2 bottles of water, and a C. C. Lemon Vitamin drink which claims to have “70 lemons worth of Vitamin C in every bottle.”
According to my friend Andrew, who has lived in Tokyo for almost 5 years, the vending machine fad has mellowed out in the past few years. Several years ago virtually anything which could fit in a vending machine was being sold in one, including items such as toys and lighters. However, these days vending machines are primarily only dispensing drinks and cigarettes.
 |
| C.C. Lemon was one of the best tasting Tokyo vending machine products. Frankly however the thought of 70 lemons worth of Vitamin C in every bottle has me a little concerned. |
Another Laowai
said,
September 5, 2007 at 10:33 am
Did you happen to encounter any of those legendary vending machines selling used panties?
james
said,
September 5, 2007 at 2:16 pm
Hahah AL beat me to the chase. Funny enough, they got rid of them not on moral but on hygienic grounds.
I’m still impressed by the iPod vending machines. I mean honestly, who is walking along and out of nowhere decides they need an iPod?
maxiewawa
said,
September 5, 2007 at 3:10 pm
iPod vending machines? How many 100 Yen coins do you need to put into the machine to get one? Or are Japanese note readers in vending machines better than in SH?
Emil
said,
September 5, 2007 at 9:57 pm
I would imagne it would suck pretty hard if the machine dident accept one of your notes
Benjamin Ross
said,
September 5, 2007 at 10:14 pm
This isn’t as cool as the iPod vending machines, but I did eat at several restaurants where you would order your food from a vending machine. After you paid, it would spit out a ticket which you would hand to your waitress who would then bring you your food. Very efficient…not sure if it’s really necessary or not, but quite efficient.
Lawrence
said,
September 5, 2007 at 10:58 pm
Interesting. I have heard that prices in Tokyo are much higher than any other city in Aisa, or even in the world, considering the the stuff in Tokyo is high quality as well. How much is the C.C. Vitamin?
Benjamin Ross
said,
September 6, 2007 at 12:39 am
Lawrence-
That’s what I heard too. While Tokyo was definitely more expensive than most Chinese cities, it wasn’t that ridiculously priced, but keep in mind I was playing it cheap. The prices of cheap food were quite similar to those in Hong Kong, however, my youth hostel was a little pricy…about 30 USD per night. But that still isn’t that expensive, especially when compared to China. The C.C. Vitamin was about 150 yen if I remember correctly, which is approximately 1 US dollar or 8 RMB.
Grace
said,
September 6, 2007 at 1:41 pm
I love C.C Lemon!!I went to Japan this summer,and i bought 10bottles of C.C lemon.Actually,it was difficute for me to take them back to China.
coljac
said,
September 9, 2007 at 4:12 pm
I liked two things about the vending machines in Japan – one, the cans of hot drinks were dispensed at precisely the right temperature for drinking. Hot enough to revive you yet below scalding territory. The second was the ubiquity – narrow alleyways, vacant lots, inside buddhist temples – it must be in the Japanese constitution that no citizen who desires one shall be left without a beverage.
羲
said,
September 18, 2007 at 5:53 pm
It looks so delicious!
teaddict
said,
October 19, 2007 at 9:07 pm
http://timesonline.typepad.com/urban_dirt/
Why Vending Machines are better than Japanese civil service.