JCC E-Magazine July 2023

If you visit Japan, you may notice that vending machines are everywhere. It goes without saying that you can spot them in train stations or shopping areas, but you can even find them in rural villages. In fact, Japan has the most number of vending machines per capita in the world. There are a number of reasons behind this.

Firstly, the vending machines are hardly broken into and thus there is little need to monitor them. The technological advancements also play a critical role. For example, the machines can now accept various forms of payment. The integration of selling both hot and cold beverages in one machine is also a major benefit, as there is no need to have separate machines. Some machines even offer over 30 different products altogether, ranging from juice, soda, coffee, tea and hot soup. Other machines that sell food are able to freeze the meals to -25°C, and automatically stop selling items that have passed the best-before date. The recent pandemic has also driven the trend for contact-less shopping, thus vending machines proved to be an adequate option.

According to the Japan Vending Machine Manufacturers Association, no permit is required to install or sell products, with certain exceptions including alcohol, cigarettes, milk, cooked or freshly made food. Besides that, the vending machine’s location should not disrupt road traffic and the installation should be earthquake-resistant. You can also buy or rent a conventional drink vending machine, or sign a contract with a vending machine company. The company would be in-charge of the installation and restock of products, while the other party only needs to pay for the electricity and still receive a certain percentage of sales. Therefore, it should not come as a surprise that the majority of vending machines in Japan specialises in beverages.

Japan is known for its wide variety of vending machines, such as offering umbrellas, shrine charms, shampoo, or even edible insects and restorative oxygen. Certain machines may even take a step further to recommend or customise products for you. For example, a drink vending machine can recommend a beverage based on customer attributes, time of purchase, temperature and so on. Another company has developed a coffee vending machine to offer coffee based on the customer’s tastes and preferences, such as degree of bitterness. A famous Japanese cosmetics company has also developed a vending machine that recommends four eyeshadow colours out of 350,000 possible colour combinations, after analysing the buyer’s face. There is even the option to engrave the palette with your name.

There are also efforts made to combat environmental issues. For example, a special vending machine called “food loss reduction boxes” sell various food that are near their best-before date or are limited-edition seasonal items, at reduced prices. Besides the approach to reduce food waste, another company is planning to install vending machines that can absorb carbon dioxide to keep drinks hot or cold.

In the event of major earthquakes or typhoons, vending machines in the coastal city of Ako will unlock and automatically offer free food and drinks. Given that Japan is prone to these natural disasters, the company is looking to install such vending machines throughout Japan. Another innovative vending machine comes with a radio that is activated by major earthquakes, and will automatically announce emergency broadcasts and critical information from a local community radio station.

We can be certain that new types of vending machines will continue to pop up in Japan, as technology continues to develop. What vending machine would you like to see next?

Resources

“Japanese Vending Machines: Selling Tasty Noodles and Oodles More”. 2023. Web Japan. Accessed 16 June. https://web-japan.org/trends/11_tech-life/tec202303_vending-machine.html.

“Increasing Services!” – Japanese Vending Machines”. 2017. Web Japan. Accessed 16 June. https://web-japan.org/trends/11_culture/pop140317.html.

“Why vending machines are so popular in Japan”. 2022. Japan Today. https://japantoday.com/category/features/lifestyle/why-vending-machines-are-so-popular-in-japan.

“Vending machines in Japan evolving with advanced tech”. 2023. The Straits Times. https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/vending-machines-in-japan-evolving-with-advanced-tech.

Mansfield, Stephen. 2023. “Japan’s vending machine culture is ahead of the curve”. Nikkei Asia. https://asia.nikkei.com/Editor-s-Picks/Tea-Leaves/Japan-s-vending-machine-culture-is-ahead-of-the-curve.

McCurry, Justin. 2023. “Japan vending machines to automatically offer free food if earthquake hits”. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jun/02/japan-vending-machines-to-automatically-offer-free-food-if-earthquake-hits.

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