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I loved the vending machine game of Japan. It was incredible to be able to get water or other drinks basically anywhere. Even in the most remote places there wa

I loved the vending machine game of Japan. It was incredible to be able to get water or other drinks basically anywhere. Even in the most remote places there was a vending machine. They always worked flawlessly as well.

NikolaNovak 4y ago
And cold coffee.so much cold coffee.brought my wife to tears (she's a hot coffee addict :)
- LeonidasXIV 4y ago
  There's also heated coffee in cans that can be had from vending machines.
  - bentobean 4y ago
    And used underwear! http://inventorspot.com/articles/japan_used_panty_vending_machines_5650 http://inventorspot.com/articles/japan_used_panty_vending_ma...
    - notpushkin 4y ago
      Talk about ways to bring a wife to tears :^)
- rwmj 4y ago
  Beer too (very common) and there's also a sake vending machine centre which I hope to visit one day: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iaKcXpr0tUU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iaKcXpr0tUU
- asiachick 4y ago
  They generally switch the machines from mostly cold drinks in the summer to 20-30% hot drinks in the winter. It's a well known and common way to warm your hands, buy a hot drink from a vending machine.
  - brewdad 4y ago
    Much of Japan has real, snowy winter. Is there a cultural aversion to wearing gloves?
    - rippercushions 4y ago
      Quite the opposite: many Japanese work uniforms mandate gloves all year round in roles where we usually wouldn't use them, eg. taxi drivers. But the appeal of a hot drink on a cold day is pretty universal, I certainly appreciated them when I was camping in northern Hokkaido at the tail end of summer.
pm215 4y ago
Yes, although almost all of them IME only sell drinks, which is a bit weird from my UK perspective where vending machines typically sell crisps and chocolate too...
- tdeck 4y ago
  That was my experience as well. I was so excited to see wacky vending machines in Japan but I just saw hundreds of drink machines, maybe 3 ice cream ones, and just a single snack machine. After doing some reading it seems the really cool ones that sell hot ramen and burgers and things are all at old roadside rest stops in the Japanese countryside. I suspect it's partly the cultural taboo around walking and eating in Japan.
  - guestbest 4y ago
    It’s more of a cultural taboo to be overweight
    - tdeck 4y ago
      If that's somehow relevant to this thread why do they have plenty of shops selling food products of various types (including some amazing candy) in Japan? I've had the best cream puff in my life from a conbini.
    - Lio 4y ago
      Are you saying these drinks machines only dispense water? I'm pretty sure otherwise that most sugary carbonated drinks like Coke, Pepsi, etc are highly associated with obesity. Liquid carbs are even easier to absorb by the gut than any form of solid food.
      - burnished 4y ago
        I think the difference is one of degree, not kind. Two perspectives 1) harder to get many calories through beverages than it is foods. Mentally I’m weighing a coke against the burger mentioned up thread, so this one might fall down to a cursory inspection of liquid and solid offerings in nearby vending machines. 2) harder to get more calories when your selection is limited. If you would buy a coke and a snickers but you can only buy soda then you won’t buy two you will just skip the snickers. So, probably a couple other more reasonable perspectives to explore before resorting to obvious hyperbole.
lotsofpulp 4y ago
I love corn, so I was excited to run into a corn option at a Japanese vending machine. Out came a beverage container of hot corn soup or something that I would not buy again, but interesting experience.
- curmudgeon22 4y ago
  We had hot corn soup/drink from a couple vending machines in Hokkaido in the winter. I thought it worked well on a cold day, who knows, maybe it was the novelty!
- ValentineC 4y ago
  I had hot corn soup, red bean soup, and asari clam miso soup from vending machines in Japan during my trip there this month, and they were all fantastic.
asiachick 4y ago
It's also incredible and probably one of the many reasons they are so successful in Japan is the don't charge more for products out of a vending machine. A typical vending machine might sell a drink for 100-150 yen. The same drink at the store will at 3-7 yen less. Vs, Here in the USA, most vending machine raise the price 50%-300%

NikolaNovak 4y ago

And cold coffee.so much cold coffee.brought my wife to tears (she's a hot coffee addict :)

LeonidasXIV 4y ago
There's also heated coffee in cans that can be had from vending machines.
- bentobean 4y ago
  And used underwear! http://inventorspot.com/articles/japan_used_panty_vending_machines_5650 http://inventorspot.com/articles/japan_used_panty_vending_ma...
  - notpushkin 4y ago
    Talk about ways to bring a wife to tears :^)
rwmj 4y ago
Beer too (very common) and there's also a sake vending machine centre which I hope to visit one day: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iaKcXpr0tUU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iaKcXpr0tUU
asiachick 4y ago
They generally switch the machines from mostly cold drinks in the summer to 20-30% hot drinks in the winter. It's a well known and common way to warm your hands, buy a hot drink from a vending machine.
- brewdad 4y ago
  Much of Japan has real, snowy winter. Is there a cultural aversion to wearing gloves?
  - rippercushions 4y ago
    Quite the opposite: many Japanese work uniforms mandate gloves all year round in roles where we usually wouldn't use them, eg. taxi drivers. But the appeal of a hot drink on a cold day is pretty universal, I certainly appreciated them when I was camping in northern Hokkaido at the tail end of summer.

pm215 4y ago

Yes, although almost all of them IME only sell drinks, which is a bit weird from my UK perspective where vending machines typically sell crisps and chocolate too...

tdeck 4y ago
That was my experience as well. I was so excited to see wacky vending machines in Japan but I just saw hundreds of drink machines, maybe 3 ice cream ones, and just a single snack machine. After doing some reading it seems the really cool ones that sell hot ramen and burgers and things are all at old roadside rest stops in the Japanese countryside. I suspect it's partly the cultural taboo around walking and eating in Japan.
- guestbest 4y ago
  It’s more of a cultural taboo to be overweight
  - tdeck 4y ago
    If that's somehow relevant to this thread why do they have plenty of shops selling food products of various types (including some amazing candy) in Japan? I've had the best cream puff in my life from a conbini.
  - Lio 4y ago
    Are you saying these drinks machines only dispense water? I'm pretty sure otherwise that most sugary carbonated drinks like Coke, Pepsi, etc are highly associated with obesity. Liquid carbs are even easier to absorb by the gut than any form of solid food.
    - burnished 4y ago
      I think the difference is one of degree, not kind. Two perspectives 1) harder to get many calories through beverages than it is foods. Mentally I’m weighing a coke against the burger mentioned up thread, so this one might fall down to a cursory inspection of liquid and solid offerings in nearby vending machines. 2) harder to get more calories when your selection is limited. If you would buy a coke and a snickers but you can only buy soda then you won’t buy two you will just skip the snickers. So, probably a couple other more reasonable perspectives to explore before resorting to obvious hyperbole.

lotsofpulp 4y ago

I love corn, so I was excited to run into a corn option at a Japanese vending machine. Out came a beverage container of hot corn soup or something that I would not buy again, but interesting experience.

curmudgeon22 4y ago
We had hot corn soup/drink from a couple vending machines in Hokkaido in the winter. I thought it worked well on a cold day, who knows, maybe it was the novelty!
ValentineC 4y ago
I had hot corn soup, red bean soup, and asari clam miso soup from vending machines in Japan during my trip there this month, and they were all fantastic.

asiachick 4y ago

It's also incredible and probably one of the many reasons they are so successful in Japan is the don't charge more for products out of a vending machine. A typical vending machine might sell a drink for 100-150 yen. The same drink at the store will at 3-7 yen less. Vs, Here in the USA, most vending machine raise the price 50%-300%