Vending Machine scavenger hunt

[Bucky]

[Sensei]

Vending machines are indeed common, and even on some hiking trails (you can measure your progress up Mt. Fuji by noting the rising prices for drinks in the machines), but did no one tell this poor girl that 99%+ of all vending machines in Japan are for drinks and cigarettes? Even snack vending machines are uncommon, and the underwear she notes is not what she may think it is.

Of course, maybe she has a liberal interpretation of "vending machine"--I would not include ATMs, for example. She'll go hungry unless she stays on a liquid-only diet, or if she includes the cafeteria-style ticket machines--and even those aren't to be found everywhere. But even then, you're still gonna be in trouble. If I had only one change of clothes and had to buy anything new from a vending machine, well, forget about it.

[maraboutslim]

She could eat at the places where one actually buys the meal from the machine at the entrance and then gives the ticket to the cooks. The food didn't come out of the machine, but the entire financial transaction was with a machine so that would probably meet her requirement. (it'd be similar to buying train service from a machine).

[Mulboyne]

[Taro Toporific]

[quote="Mulboyne, From her blog"]:

... I didn’]



Every large, recently-built hospital in Tokyo sells personal care items in vending machines including toothpaste, disposable underwear, T-shirts, etc . And, nonfunctional, worst-in-the-world, Japanese antiperspirant is never worth buying.

Likewise, the "Prince Hotels" have 24/7 vending lobbies with better food, gifts, some clothes, etc. in many locations in centers of business such as their Shin-Yokohama branch.
http://www.princehotelsjapan.com/shinyokohamaprincehotel/

[Doctor Stop]

Some capsule hotels have vending machines that vend razors, soap, toothbrushes with pre-applied toothpaste, underwear and even neckties. Everything you need to feel salaryman-fresh.

[Behan]

SO, WHAT THE HECK IS THAT?
Automated External Defibrillator

By ALICE GORDENKER
Dear Alice,

Did I see what I think I saw? On a recent trip to Japan, I spotted what appeared to be a vending machine containing an AED [Automated External Defibrillator]... What the heck would a life-saving device be doing in a vending machine?

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/ek20070417wh.html

[Samurai_Jerk]

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/ek20070417wh.html

There's one of those in Nihonbashi Station. It can't be safe for just anyone to use.

[GomiGirl]

Plus you have to make sure that you are careful where you have your AMI.

[Greji]

Plus you have to make sure that you are careful where you have your AMI.

I had an AMI trying to get my goat out!



(Copyright by Kuro)

[Mulboyne]

She might have something to say about this article:

Japan Times: Stroll the streets of vending-machine heaven

Fancy some fresh eggs and veggies to go with your can of coffee in the morning? Or how about some sake with a steaming bowl of oden (soy-sauce based stew) for an evening enkai (party)? Who needs restaurants and supermarkets when you can get all you need from vending machines? But wait, there's more. How about renting a DVD and watching it at home with your partner? If that's your takeaway bag, perhaps you shouldn't forget to buy a pretty bouquet of flowers for your honey, as well -- and a pack of condoms, just in case...more...

[GomiGirl]

Do the fridges with vibrators in love hotels count as vending machines?

I think she was a bit naive to think that she could get EVERYTHING from a machine that was on EVERY street corner? Sure there are the odd ones here and there but they are not that easy to find and are where you least expect them. The oddest one I think I have seen is hot food (fried chips, chicken etc) at a rest house on the Kantetsu freeway on the way to Nakano. I tried the chips - they were not that great. I blogged it of course.

[Doctor Stop]

Here are the photos from that JT story:

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/photo_gallery/photo_gallery.html?eid=18

[succubusqueen]

[spyder]

Do the fridges with vibrators in love hotels count as vending machines?

The oddest one I think I have seen is hot food (fried chips, chicken etc) at a rest house on the Kantetsu freeway on the way to Nakano. I tried the chips - they were not that great.

You can find these in all highway "parking areas", and also these days most manga cafes have them also. Granted, the food is not that great, but when you're starving, it isn't all that bad

[Mulboyne]

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/ek20070417wh.html

Yomiuri: Defibrillator saves boy hit by baseball

A high school baseball pitcher who went into cardiac arrest after being hit in the chest by a line drive was saved by an automated external defibrillator (AED) used by an off-duty paramedic Monday, according to police. Takahiro Ueno, 16, a second-year student at Hishokan High School in Kishiwada, Osaka Prefecture, was struck at about 10:20 a.m. and collapsed due to cardiorespiratory arrest, the police said Toshitsugu Oka, 39, chief firefighter and paramedic for the Kishiwada municipal fire department, who was at the game, used an AED installed at the school and performed cardiac compression and artificial respiration with the help of the team's coach, Yoshiatsu Okuno, according to the police. When the ambulance arrived seven minutes later, Ueno was breathing on his own again. Ueno is scheduled to stay in the hospital for a week, the police said. A doctor who examined him said Ueno would have been in serious trouble if an AED had not been nearby...more...

[tidbits]

A vending machine selling condom near my house. I am sure this machine is common in some red light district or love hotel, but this one is located right outside of someone's house, residentail area, where there are also few Combini within 100 meters away. Maybe this is meant for 'emergency' use for that house residents only..or maybe some Japanese are too shy to pay for condom at the cashier?

[Charles]

Maybe this is meant for 'emergency' use for that house residents only..or maybe some Japanese are too shy to pay for condom at the cashier?

It would have to be an emergency. Would you trust a condom that's been sitting in a vending machine, baking in the sun for god knows how long?

[emperor]

FREE DRINKS!!

...(non-alcoholic only):(

[Buraku]

A vending machine selling condom near my house.

One of your neighbors must be a hooker or else the schoolkids nextdoor are very active with their 'enko'