Vending Machines

Oh, the things I’ve heard about Japanese vending machines! They’re everywhere!

Of course, there’s the typical drink vending machine (that serve both hot and cold drinks) as well as the cigarette ones, the ice cream ones, the cup noodle ones, and, my personal favorite, the book ones.

Ice Cream

Tobacco

Cup Ramen

Book Vending Machine, Tokyo Subway

Supposedly in the twisted, dark alleyways of Tokyo there’s condom and used panty vending machines as well. But I haven’t seen one in person, so I’m not too sure…

There are various ways one can get their drink as well. You can get a bottle or a can—but paper cups are available as well. You can tell the difference between cup and can because the display top is wide and flat. That’s another thing—you don’t see your drink until it drops—you only see a plastic representation. This differs from the “press a button and you’re done” vending machines of my youth.

Cups

I have not seen that many food vending machines except for on campus (waffles and ramen); drinks seem to be the most popular plus the abundance of conbini and hyakuen stores make it very easy to find and buy cheap food.

You can pay in various ways as well. There’s the traditional coin or bill, but you can also use your train pass (that you credit with money) to pay.

Paying with train card

And here are some of the whacky vending machines I’ve seen:

Electronic Vending Machine

Nara Vending Machine

Also collecting donations

Tale of Genji themed Tea Vending Machine