Land Of The Vending Machine

In America, the selection of vending machines is pretty poor. There’s not a whole lot besides soda, snacks, weak coffee and maybe ice cream. If you want to step up your vending machine game, look no farther than the promised land of automated retail – Japan.

Japan boasts over 5,405,300 vending machines. That’s the highest concentration on the planet, one vending machine for every 23 people! While half of these sell soda, the rest have an off the wall selection of anything you could ever want including: noodles, socks, razors, underwear, french fries, farm fresh eggs, gourmet coffee and more.

Ping Magazine has an excellent round up of the latest in Japan’s vending machine technology. Some highlights include: the solar powered – moss covered vending machine, the age recognition cigarette machine and the wood paneled, faux genuine Italian coffee shop -complete with menu board.

Ping Mag: “Vending Machine Extravaganza”