>Let’s Vendo!

>Japan has the highest number of vending machines per capita, with about one machine for every twenty-three people. While the majority of machines in Japan are stocked with drinks, snacks, and cigarettes, one occasionally finds vending machines selling items such as bottles of liquor, cans of beer, fried food, underwear, porn magazines, live lobsters, fresh meat, eggs and potted plants.

In Japan, vending machines are known as 自動販売機 (jidō-hanbaiki) from jidō, or “automatic”; hanbai, or “vending”; and ki, or “machine”, 自販機 (jihanki) for short. Vending machines are also commonly used in casual restaurants to sell meal tickets.

Check out this showcases of unusual and creative Japanese vending machines

SMART Car Vending Machine
Pushing the button on the vendor won’t exactly pop out a car, but it does dispense a branded tube containing pamphlets on the new models, dealer information, and a sheet of Smart Car stickers (Oh stickers!). [link]

Vegetables Vending Machine
Unique vending machine from Tokyo that dispenses fresh vegetables. [link]
For those times when your walking down the street and you think to your self, self, I feel like a carrot right now.