One of the things that you will definitely recognize walking through Japanese streets for the first time is the omnipresence of vending machines (自販機) everywhere you go. Vending machines can literally be found everywhere, from public streets to temples, inside stations or next to your local bus stop. They offer drinks, snacks, ice cream and a lot of other things that come in handy on a 24/7 base.

Even though vending machines can be found in other countries as well, the trend of vending machines containing more than just consumables is perhaps most apparent in Japan where vending machines sell products from toilet paper to hot meals and pornography, and there is 1 vending machine per 23 people. 

The way you use a vending machine is self explanatory, in Japan most vending machines take coins from 10 to 500 yen and 1000 yen bills. On some machines you can pay by Suica as well. Most machines can give out change so you don’t have to worry that the machine will “eat” your hard earned yen.

There are 5.52 million vending machines in Japan, according to the nation’s tourism board. In Japan, vending machines started to appear in 1950s with drink machines, and then really began to take off in the following decades. Nowadays there are actually more vending machines in Japan than sushi restaurants and Playstation 4s and some of seem to be from the future. There are even Japanese vending machines can tell you the weather, help you take a selfie, or use facial recognition software to guess your age and gender and then offer a personalized beverage recommendation.
Vending machines can be really helpful when you’re on the run and you need a refreshing drink or a snack but there’s no time to visit the Konbini. Try them all !