I ♥ jidoohanbaiki. Japanese vending machines.

No, I don't have a love affair with vending machines but from all that I've read and been told, Japanese do.  They  are obsessed with the machines which are known in Japanese as "jidoohanbaiki".

A colleague of mine, who recently returned from Japan, told me that vending machines are e-v-e-r-ywhere in Japan and in the most unexpected of places. I have to admit, I'm fascinated by their fascination.

The history/trivia nut that I am, I can't write a posting on the Japanese love of vending machines without first doing a history check.   I don't know how the historians figured this out but I read that the first known vending machine was a pneumatically driven holy water vending machine in an Egyptian temple in Alexandria in 215 B.C.   Too funny....selling holy water from a machine.

In Japan, vending machines were introduced during the Meiji Era (1868-1912).  Although there was interest in vending machines during the Tokyo Olympics in 1964 when there was a need to supply large numbers of people with a number of goods and not enough space or people to provide the needed stuff, they didn't really took off in Japan until1970s, after the technology to serve both hot and cold drinks was developed.

As in many other parts of the world, drinks are common items sold in the vending machines and although Japanese vending machines selling drinks account for around half the machines in Japan, everything from foodstuffs to literature to entertainment to clothing and gifts can also be bought from a vending machine. Food sold via machine might be as simple as instant ramen (hot and ready to eat!) or as complex as a whole meal.

But the Japanese have taken the concept of selling stuff from a vending machine to an entirely new level.  It seems like if you can stuff an item into a container no larger than a bread box, you can sell it from a vending machine.  Apparently, you can even buy clothing from machine - everything from hats and shirts to (believe it or not) underwear!

It's no wonder then that according to the Japan Vending Machine Manufacturers Association, there are 5.51 million machines in Japan, taking a total of nearly 7 trillion yen (around $ 58 billion) a year!

Here are some of the quirky vending machine items I came across when reading up on their obsession.

Here's a machine that dispenses bread in a can. 

This one sells Dole bananas.  How cute is that?

Need to pick up some eggs on your way home?  There's a vending machine for you.

Need to pick up a game and maybe some snacks? Try a vending machine.

Lost your cellphone?  No worries.  Just cough up some yen to a vending machine.

It's raining cats and dogs and you've left your umbrella at home.  Vending machine to the rescue!



New to town and you need a map? Monitan's are the machines for you!  Featuring touch screen monitors, Monitan vending machines offer area maps, info about local dining and entertainment establishments, route guidance for how to get from here to there, train schedules and City Office news. When potential customers approach the machine, the monitor comes to life with animated instructions and commercials for local sponsors.  It sees you coming!



Left your wallet at home and you're dying for a snack from the machine? Pay with your phone!

And no, this SMART car vending machine does not dispense the car but rather an informational pamphlet about the car.  Clever marketing.

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Not surprisingly, there are machines that also sell items that minors are prohibited from buying such as cigarettes and alcohol.  But how to prevent that from happening?  Count on the Japanese to solve that problem.  A Japanese company called Fujitaka has introduced a “Child Check System” for cigarette vending machines that uses facial recognition. It then compares the face with 100,000 faces in the vending machines database after taking a digital photograph of the consumer.

Thirsty and out of cash? Don't worry, Japan's revolutionary MediCafe dispenses "free" beverages it doles out free drinks as a reward for you watching an 15-20 second ad play on its built-in video screen.  Japanese are brilliant at marketing!

So, why are the Japanese so obsessed with vending machines?? According to Takashi Kurosaki, director-general of JVMA, "Vending machines spread in Japan because of people's demand for automation. Leaving aside the issue of whether this is good or bad, people clearly want to purchase things without having to talk to others."  I don't think vending machines are popular because the Japanese are anti-social.  I think it's simply because they are so darn convenient.  I read somewhere else that the popularity of the vending machines in Japan has to do with the country's relative immunity from vandalism, its cash-based culture -- but especially "Japanese people's fascination with machines."  If I lived in Japan, I think I would be hooked on them too!

However, along with their popularity, there's also criticism of vending machines. For one thing, environmental issues. With millions of machines running nonstop day and night, concern has been raised about the amount of electricity being consumed.

Apparently, reduced energy consumption vending machines are standard and fluorocarbon free ones are in the works, but out this prototype from Fuji Electric.  A machine with solar panels to supply the energy used for cooling and heating the beverages while the moss covering helps improve insulation.  Leave it to the ever so innovative Japanese to come up with this idea!

It's easy for me to see why the Japanese love their vending machines.  They do serve a serious purpose in that they obviously dispense goods and food stuff that the Japanese consumers need but at some level, I think they're simply fun! I think I'm going to enjoy dropping some yen into a few when I roam around Japan!