Japan: The country where there is a substantial number of vending machines.
What kind of images do you have about Japan?
Kimono? It is very rare to see ladies wearing kimonos.
Ninja? Maybe they are hiding. I haven’t seen any of these lately.
But vending machines are everywhere.
In Japan, there are 2.4 million vending machines. Especially in Tokyo city, there are 330,000 vending machines. That means there is at least one vending machine within a few minutes’ walking distances.
I would say vending machines are like “shared fridges” to us. There are so many varieties of products available and they are so colorful.
Please look at the photos of the machines in Japan.
The photo above shows an ice cream vending machine commonly situated on a platform of train stations, and public parks. The manufacturer first targeted teenage girls for marketing, as the ice cream was named “seventeen ice”.
But in fact, the company found it was popular among middle-aged men! Perhaps, ice cream is a good choice to settle the stomach, after drinking at a bar.
Here is an article on the research done by a Japanese TV company below:
Who buys ice cream from vending machines?｜TBS TV (Japanese language)
