Japanese Vending Machines

By Hazuki Nakagami

Vending machine land just opened recently.Opened on January 21, 2022. The address is 1-18 Hondori, Shiroishi-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido. Vending Machine Land is open 24 hours a day, so you can enjoy it anytime. They sell things that you wouldn’t normally be able to buy. For example, there are machines that sell insects, ramen, dumplings, and so on.

The history of the vending machine is very interesting. The world’s first vending machine was for selling holy water in ancient Egypt. The first Japanese vending machine was to sell stamps. The first confectionery vending machine was installed in 1924. Vending machines for train tickets were introduced in 1967.

The first beverage vending machine in Japan was introduced by the Coca-Cola company in 1962. In 1975, a new vending machine was invented that distinguished between warm drinks and cold drinks and sold them as a single unit. In 2003, a support-type vending machine was introduced that could be provided free of charge in the event of a disaster. In 2010, a vending machine equipped with a solar panel was introduced to reduce power consumption to zero.

A smartphone vending machine was introduced in 2016. This was a great invention, and it has a wonderful feature where you can purchase your favorite product by connecting to a smartphone app and collect 15 stamps which equals 15 points, and you can get one free drink.

In the future vending machines will probably eliminate the need for coins. Recently, it is changing to electronic money instead of banknotes and coins. Therefore, vending machines that use QR codes and smartphone apps will become widespread.