PhotoMann Travel Photgraphy - Images of Japanese Vending Machines PhotoMann Travel Photography Stunning Travel Photography from Around the World .m18CL0,.m18CL0:link{text-decoration:none;width:100%;color:Black; } .m18CL0:visited{color:Black} .m18mit{padding-left:15px;padding-right:15px;color:Black; font-family:Arial,Helvetica; font-size:11px; } Home Asia Europe Pacific Other Stuff Blog PhotoMann Who?             Vending Machines of Japan PhotoMann has a large 'collection' of images of unique vending machines found around Japan. Over 50 of them can be seen here. The machines are everywhere. Estimates suggest there are 5.6 million vending machines which works out to be one for every 20 people in Japan. Sales from vending machines in 2000 totaled $56 billion! The most common are drink and cigarette machines followed by machines with pornography. They can be found on almost any street in Japan. They're everywhere! Below is a sampling of the machines to be found. Click on the images for an enlarged view.               Eggs This egg machine features farm fresh eggs. It's close to PhotoMann's home yet he hasn't had the courage to try these eggs yet. Umbrellas An umbrella vending machine near Tokyo Dome. The umbrellas are 400 to 1000 yen each. You're paying for convenience since the cheap umbrellas can be found for much less elsewhere. Name Cards Print your own name cards. Horse Racing Betting Place your bets! These were two of many horse racing bet machines near Tokyo Dome. Hot Ramen Get your hot bowl of ramen! It's unlikely as good as a ramen shop but it will do in a pinch. Edy Charger Edy is a prepaid e-money service usable througout Japan. This machine inside a McDonalds allows recharging your Edy card or phone. Energy Drinks & Protection Recharge yourself before putting the condoms to use! Scenic Picture Booth Get your picture superimposed on a scenic background. Although the booth is empty here it's common to see groups of people crowding into booths like this Hot Popcorn from Hello Kitty! PhotoMann's daughter Chanapa is shown here holding a "fresh" bag of popcorn. The machine has a microwave oven to pop the popcorn. Rice Ten kilo bags of rice be purchased from this machine. It features eight different varieties for $30-40! Rice Cleaner Farmers can use the machine in this building to clean their freshly harvested rice. The output is the rice we're accustom to seeing in the store. Photo Printing These photo printing machines will take virtually any media as input. They accept smart media, memory stick, compact flash, zip, CD, CD-RW, MO and of course floppy disks. Mobile Phone Recharging Station PhotoMann discovered this machine while shopping in the Akihabara section of Tokyo. Power cords for all common cell phone types dangle from the machine. Just hook up your phone, set a combo to lock up your phone and insert 100 yen (about 80 cents US). You phone can charge while you shop. Just hope you don't get a call while it's locked up! Drinks and Cigarettes These are the most common machines. They're EVERYWHERE! The drink machines commonly have a both hot and cold drinks. Lots of Cigarettes Fancy Coke Machines These are adjacent to the Tokyo Hard Rock Cafe parking lot. Fishing Anyone? Fishing line, fish hooks and even bait can be purchased here. Toilet Paper When you're in a bind you have to pay up. This machine at a Tokyo subway station toilet will cost you 100 yen (about 80 cents US) for a small package of toilet paper.   Kids Toys Automated Waitress Just make your meal selection from the machine outside the noodle shop. Feed your money into the machine then you'll get a ticket which you hand to the cook behind the counter inside. Unfortunately the machines rarely have pictures so it's hard for PhotoMann to order here. Flowers Forget to get flowers on the way home? No worries as this flower machine can be found in Tokyo's Shinjuku station which services 2 million travelers per day. Pachinko This unofficial form of gambling is all over the country. Pachinko parlors are frequently packed... and noisy! You redeem the balls for prizes which you go around back to trade for money! Subway Tickets Parking The bar that raises up under the car prevents the owner from removing the car until the parking meter is paid. There is another variety that has a blocking bar in front of the car to prevent leaving. Parking Garage Machine The entire building is a parking machine. Just drive your car into the bay. Each bay rotates through the building to maximize usage of space. Your parking ticket will retrieve your car back to the bottom bay. You back out your car onto the rotating circle. It will turn your car so you can drive out straight! Flight Insurance? You can conveniently purchase flight/travel insurance near your boarding gate in Tokyo. I suppose the adjacent phone card machine enables you to call home before that fateful trip! Frequent Flyer Miles This JAL (Japan Air Lines) machine is conveniently located near gates. Just insert your card and boarding pass to credit your miles. Fried Foods French fries, dumplings, hot dogs, etc are available from this machine along the Tohoku expressway. Liquor House Mini This wonderful machine features BEER and other alcoholic drinks. More Beer! This beer machine includes large 2 liter jugs. A bottle of Boston Club whiskey can also be purchased.. Film & Disposable Cameras Reverse Vending In other words this is a recycling machine. Put your can in and get money back. Porn Machines This shack contains four vending machines filled with pornography. The videos and other 'items' range in price from 2000 to 10,000 yen ($16-80). These huts can be found all over the country. There are four different locations along the 20 kilometer drive to the closest city. More Porn The machines are commonly protected with metal bars. It is common for the machines to have 'curtains' to shield the contents during the day. In the evening the shades roll up automatically. Other machines such as these are inside huts and are accessible any time.   Designer Condoms This condom vending machine was conveniently located between the drink and porn machines. It offers designer condoms including one package labeled "United Colors of Benetton". Other machines offer different varieties based on your blood type. Drink & Recycle When you're finished with the cup your drink came in simply place it into the machine on the right to get your deposit back. Everywhere! As I said the machines are everywhere. Even outside 24 hour convenience stores. Water Salad? Not sure about this choice! I'll pass on it. Ice Cream Several varieties of ice cream can be found in machines including this Haagen-Dazs one. Truly Bizarre!! This vending machine has truly bizarre contents... 'used' schoolgirl panties! We had heard that such machines existed but had never seen them. A colleague came across this machine in suburban Tokyo just recently (May 2002). This particular machine is a converted cigarette machine that now takes 10,000 yen notes (about US$80 bills). The current contents run from 1000 to 3000 yen. Batteries The batteries on display in this machine must have been there a long time as they are visibly corroding.Hopefully the batteries bought from the machine are fresher! Refrigerated Locker   . Honor System Vegtable Stand This road-side stand/"machine" near Morioka sells vegtables. Take your choice and put the money in the lockbox. Honor System Flowers Flowers are available in Morioka for the taking... just be sure to put the appropriate amount of yen in the lockbox. . Pay TV Cards Pay here to get pay-per-view movies in your hotel room. Just insert the card in the set-top box. Rhinoceros Beetles Rhinoceros beetles are popular pets to some children in Japan. Beetles can be purchased in this road side vending machine outside Morioka. The male beetles are 300 yen while the female ones are only 100 yen. The two curious kids here are part of the Shillingsberg clan. . Kerosene Vending machines that sell kerosene can be found all around Japan. Much of the home heating is with kerosene space heaters. One brings their own jugs and fills them here. The rate when this picture was taken was 756 yen for 18 liters. Photo Machine Lineup Outside Yodobashi Camera in Tokyo you'll find this lineup of machines for printing digital pictures or doing self portraits.. Mobile Phone Photo Printer Plug-in your mobile/cell phone and get prints of your pictures. This machine was sitting inside the entrance of Yodobashi Camera in Tokyo. Dry Ice Many supermarkets have machines that dispense dry ice to help keep your frozen goods cold until you get home!. Photo Enlarging This massive machine is for printing and enlarging digital pictures. There are 40 bins to hold prints for later pickup. The machine dispenses a receipt with a claim code which is used to get the prints when they're ready. This machine was found on the display floor at Photo Imaging Expo 2005 in Tokyo. Newspapers There were seven newspaper choices in this Shinjuku station machinel. In-Room Mobile Telephone Recharging A mobile telephone recharging machine was in my hotel room in Sapporo. Suggested Japan Travel Guides (Order Through Amazon Books - Click on the book name) Insight Pocket Guide Tokyo The Insight Pocket Guide series of books is my favorite for short stays at any destination. The book highlights the must see destinations in full day and half day itineraries. This includes detailed maps and suggested walking routes. This guide is a must have especially for a short visit. Eyewitness Travel Guides to Japan Eyewitness guides provide great detail on sights and history. It's a great reference especially with it's fantastic three dimensional cutaway views of sites and monuments to point out all the details. It makes finding things much easier than merely having a bunch of words and a map. Lonely Planet Japan Lonely Planet Tokyo As with most Lonely Planet guides, this Japan edition are invaluable resources for planning your journey. They offer you the most up-to-date information about where to go and where to avoid, how to get there and get around, where to stay at a reasonable rate. The guides provide everything you'll need to know for a rewarding visit. Fodor's Japan: The guide for All Budgets Fodor's Pocket Tokyo Fodor's Pocket Kyoto Lively, graphic, all-in-one guides to Tokyo and Kyoto. The author provides solid travel reporting on every region including what to see and do plus recommended tours. It's rating system identifies the not-to-be-missed sights. Exploring Tohoku: A Guide to Japan's Back Country This is the only guide I've found that provides details for traveling in Northern Japan. Most other guides concentrate only on the major cities.   Choose a PhotoMann Destination Moscow St. Petersburg Venice Florence Burano Istanbul Thailand India New Zealand Singapore Australia China Yunnan Hong Kong Okinawa African Safari San Francisco Fiji Islands Berlin Guam Other Destinations Thai Wedding Russia River Cruise Prague Diego Garcia Japanese Vending Machines Japan Random Japan   Web photomann.com   google_protectAndRun("ads_core.google_render_ad", google_handleError, google_render_ad); google_protectAndRun("ads_core.google_render_ad", google_handleError, google_render_ad); google_protectAndRun("ads_core.google_render_ad", google_handleError, google_render_ad);   google_protectAndRun("ads_core.google_render_ad", google_handleError, google_render_ad);       Home | PhotoMann Who? | Blog | Favorites | Book | Links | Postcards | Copyright | Contact     Images Copyright © 1990-2008 Douglas S. Mann.