Japan has one vending machine for every 23 people, that’s six-million vending machines nation-wide.
They are called (jidō-hanbaiki) from jidō, for "automatic"; hanbai, or "vending"; and ki, or "machine", but most people just say, (jihanki).
Sure, everyone has heard about the infamous panty-filled vending machines, which do exist... but are just a novelty, even for the Japanese. They typically steal their panties from women’s clotheslines for free anyway.
There are far more useful and amazing vending machines than that, filled with all sorts of things that can be purchased with the wave of a cell-phone or train-pass, instead of counting out change.
Most are filled with beverages, tea, soda and canned coffee and even soup! Hot or cold!
You also have machines filled with paperback novels.
The Japanese are said to read the most of any country, if you count manga.
There are beer and sake vending machines. As in almost every country outside the U.S., you can drink booze anywhere you like, and the Japanese take full advantage, grabbing beers from machines on the way home from work.
Champaign anyone?
You can even get live lobsters and crabs from some vending machines, although I wouldn’t recommend it. Why don’t you get some nice fresh veggies instead?
Or a nice bag of rice?
Fine, you can get a hamburger if you really want one.
Boy that looks taisty!
All we need is katsup!
Or perhaps you’d like a blessing from a Buddhist priest? Japan has you covered.
But the most recent and amazing of all of Japan’s vending machines is something I call the “Big Brother” machine. I was walking through Tokyo station and saw a vending machine with a flat screen LCD display. When I got closer to the machine I noticed that it was recommending a tea to me with a blinking red dot.
Not only did I like this tea, this was the tea I bought nearly every morning from other vending machines. It knew what I wanted just by scanning me with its cameras!
Other people began lining up, and judging by the reaction, the machine’s ability to guess the drink you like was shocking. Jaws dropped and people shouted, “Sugoi!!” (wow!)
Here's a video check it out!
The future is here, and Japan’s vending machines can read your mind.
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