Sticker Graffiti on Japanese Pop Machines

Ricoh GR-D IV @ 28mm cropped square. 1/350th sec F/1.9 @ ISO 160.

Espresso Book Maker at Oscar's Bookstore

 When i first saw this machine in the middle of my favorite bookstore, I thought it was a homemade flux capacitor, or perhaps the fanciest espresso machine ever. Instead, I was told it was a mini book-making machine: print, bind and trim, all in a compact machine!!  I didn't even know these things existed!!  Check out the Youtube video explaining how this works. Pretty amazing!!  

Photographically, I colour isolated the center but I decided not to clean up the edges, allowing the blue to bleed onto the floor.  I want to see this machine in action one day. At the same time,  it would be cool if it could make a matcha soy latte as well as print your own book!! I didn't even know how to label this machine on my blog, so I put it under vending machine....not really a stretch is it?

Necessity is the Mother of Invention....Phone Booths in Japan

So far we can see how far advanced the pop machines are in Japan. I still think there should be a pop machine museum don't you? Wouldn't you pay to go and see that? Anyway, since people like convenience here, and because Japanese love variety, you can see how pop machines have advanced here over the years. Light years ahead of N.America for sure.

But how have phone booths fared in this land of cell phones? Well, take a look. Not so good..... I almost laugh when I see a public phone in Japan...... you know, many of them aren't even bolted down. Anyone could steal a public phone as easily as stealing a garbage can. Pretty sad isn't it? Look at the colour of the machines, look at the colour of the walls. Nobody wants to advertise near these things. I took this shot in the 3rd busiest station in Tokyo during rush hour, and still, this is how it looks over here in this corner......

Kamen Rider Drink!!

What's that between the Kilimanjaro ice coffee drink and Dydo's Energy Gym drink with Royal Jelly? For serious? A Kamen Rider drink?!?! Why didn't I buy it and drink it? What was I thinking?

What is Kamen Rider? It was a TV show that was still airing in Japan before I even left for Canada. The night before we left for Canada (I was only 3 but this memory is still very vivid in my mind) we all went out to eat and my grandma bought me and my other two brothers Kamen Rider action figures....... good times..... and now it's a drink! Want to know more about Kamen Rider? Check out this link

Godzilla Statue and Pop Machine

Since we're in Japan, there has to be Godzilla on a vending machine right? Right!



As a side note, there's even a Godzilla monument in Tokyo, although it's only like 3-4ft tall!! But with the right camera angle, he's 10 stories tall again!! Where is this Godzilla statue? Go to the South East intersection between Hibiya Park and the emperor's palace grounds. Go to the open public square at the South East corner of that intersection, and there you are. Godzilla..... only tourists stop to take pictures. The locals don't care!! Don't they value their monster heritage?

Vending Machines in Girl's Anime District

As mentioned on earlier entries, vending machines in Japan can be very specialized, appealing to a specific market in a specific area. You go from Ginza to Otsuka, the same company will sell different drinks (and at different prices) based on the neighbourhood. Makes sense. Well, in Sunshine City district, there is this one block stretch of shops that specialize in girl anime and manga, and guess what the pop machines look like, only on this block? You got it, girl anime themed pop machines!! Amazing!! And it's not just the outside of the machine that's decorated anime style, but the drinks themselves are different!!

What Does Bike Riding Have to Do with Smoking?

Unlike North America, Japan can still explicitly advertise and promote smoking products, including selling cigarettes in vending machines and attaching silly pictures like this. Most of the advertising consists either of a sexy girl, or a cool guy. This one has a guy riding a bike, as if smoking and riding a bicycle have something in common. I can understand a guy smoking while on a motorcycle, but on a bicycle? Only in Japan I guess......

Corn Soup in a Can?

I did finally try corn soup in a can from a vending machine......it definitely wasn't the best corn soup I've had (nobody makes corn soup like a good Chinese restaurant though.......) but considering it came from a can, it was acceptable. I appreciated the twist-off cap as well, so that I can shake the soup to get more of the corn that's settled to the bottom as I drink it down. I had a red bean pudding in a can and it didn't have a twist-off cap, so I lost much of the red bean at the very bottom once all the soup was gone!! What a waste!! Would I drink it again? In a bind I might. Maybe it's really cold, late, I'm walking back to the apartment, and I just need a little pick-me-up, and a can of hot tea won't do, I'd say a can of warm corn soup may just hit the spot!!

Wood-Grain Vending Machine?

If we haven't seen it all, I found a wood grained patterned vending machine......how cool is that? If only the recycling bin was similarly patterned and coloured........

15 Vending Machines in a Row?

It's not uncommon to see 4-5 machines lined up in a row in Japan. I don't know the logic of it, except that maybe when there's more machines, there's more choice, so more people tend to gravitate towards it, versus having a solitary machine by itself offering less choice?

Anyway, in Sunshine City, there's this alley that has 15 vending machines in a row. There are so many that I can't really take a singular shot of it, but here's the link on Google Maps. Just scroll across and see all the machines!! Insane or what?

You can see also that most vending machines have their own recycling units, so you don't have pop cans littered everywhere. Also, in Japan, it's considered rude to eat and drink in public, especially if you're walking, so many will buy a drink in front of a machine, drink quickly, and then immediately recycle the can....... very honourable...... but 15 machines in a row? Really?

Proactiv Vending Machine?

In Japan, they sell more than just drinks in vending machines. Some odd machines are known for selling jeans and used underwear, but these are not the norm. However, specialized vending machines are common, as you will soon see with my upcoming posts. Unlike N.America, where machines across the continent basically sell the exact same thing and look pretty much exactly the same, in Japan, there are one-off machines selling just one type of thing.

This huge monster was dedicated to selling Proactiv skin care products..... I found it at the Tokyo Dome City shopping centre (I don't think that's the official name, but you can't miss it.... it has a huge roller-coaster wrapped around the parameter of the complex!!). I know these machines are not only in Japan, but most places have them at airports and other busy transportation hubs where people are travelling and can buy the products 24hrs a day, no salesperson needed. This was at a theme park shopping centre where they could have just put up a Proactiv Kiosk with an actual salesperson... it was kind of out of place for me......

Mega Jidohanbaiki!!

I'm going to do a series on vending machines (jidohanbaiki), and I'll start with the biggest, baddest, and probably the most expensive vending machine I've seen in Japan thus far. It's a walk-in machine made by Mediacure. I assume it's some sort of famous singers theme machine? TVs all along the outside and inside, and full sound. It's bigger than most platform mini convenience stores at the train stations!

This one was located at the Ikebukuro Station along the counterclockwise direction Yamanote-sen (so going towards Shinjuku Sta.). Will this machine ever make it's money back? I don't think so, but clearly this is some sort of marketing campaign, intending to do more than just sell drinks......any ideas? I'm thirsty though.......I feel like a Royal Milk Tea.......

Japan and Vending Machines

I was on Lisa Katayama's blog tokyomango.com and saw her recent entry of a cool special edition vending machine. This most unusual vending machine was found near my dad's apartment in Otsuka..... it dispenses batteries!! I should have double checked to see if it was still operational, or if it was just an old relic that no one had carted away yet. I mean, it looks like it was put in place in 1985!!

You know what would be cool? If there was a vending machine museum in Tokyo! Wouldn't that be cool? They have every other type of museum you can think of (parasite, tobacco, salt, etc.). How about one that people actually want to see?