Why Japan has so many vending machines

What vending machines can teach you about this country

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While in Japan I noticed vending machines everywhere. Looking into it a little deeper a discovered that there's a very interesting answer to why Japan has so many vending machines. It's an economic story but it's also a story about how Japanese society values robotics and automation.

[Vox]

Hey everyone: this dispatch video is part of the Vox Borders project. I'm visiting six places around the world to investigate the human impact of borders, and those six videos will be released in fall 2017. In the meantime I'm making these vlog style shorts.

If you want to follow my travels, the best way to do it is following my FB page:
and signing up for the newsletter at www.vox.com/borders-email. I'll be asking for video ideas, feedback on the project, and answering questions as it unfolds.

-Johnny

[therealdave]

"Highest number of vending machines per capita in the world at 1 per 23 people"

Me and the boys carrying 40 vending machines into Vatican City:
It's over, Japan

[lovetobe]

He hit on some good points, but when I lived in Japan, the Japanese people told me that they can have vending machines because vandalism is rare. In the U.S. vending machines can't be everywhere because they can and are easily vandalized.

[yoloswaggins]

Vending machines are pretty lit for antisocial people.

[Kindred_Lamb]

Japan is literally the most futuristic yet most historical country unless I'm wrong but Japan is caught in between the past and the future its amazing

[asdif]

That chopstick store is like the real life version of the harry potter magic wand store

[boltech]

Information is not correct. I am Japanese over 50 years old, but vending machines have been in various places for over 40 years.

[EddVCR]

As a Japanese person I will just say that most of the information is wrong and this person doesn’t understand the social economic and cultural nuances.

Vending machines have been everywhere even before the decline in birth rate, and these are just observations a dude made as a westerner looking at these “strange” people and how they live, unfortunately told as facts when they’re not.

[udunno]

Japanese believe you should only spend the money you have as oppose to the debt in your credit cards. That's why cash based transactions are still the dominant form of payment.

[cupquakesmasher]

Hello, I live in the U.S. but I'm Japanese and go to Japan every year. On the last point of credit cards not being a thing in Japan and how it operates on cash, lately Suica cards have been getting very popular and is basically a bankless debit card or cash card. If you're still in Japan I HIGHLY recommend getting one because most stores are supporting it. You fill your card with money at most train stations and you just tap the card on something like a vending machine to pay. It really helped unload the coinage in my pockets. Not to say that I don't have a lot of Japanese cash, I still always keep them on hand.

EDIT: Also, it's very common for cashiers and other customers to be patient when someone is paying for something so take your time to dish out the change. An example is if you're buying something that's 959y. In America most people would pay with a card or give a bill to get going but in Japan people will wait for you to take out 59y so you can get 100y in change. It really helps.

[BeaversHobby]

Putting coins in vending machine is very satisfying for me. I don't know why but it is.

[JeremyGalloway]

I love these videos, but this was some pretty lackluster journalism, bordering on mere speculation. For every point you made, there is an extremely obvious contradiction. Like the fact that there are literally multiple convenience stores (staffed with at least 2 people 24/7) on every street, so vending machines are clearly not replacing cashiers. And you don’t even mention the history of Japanese vending machines and how demand for them grew over time. Or how the Japanese engineered them to become thinner and thinner. This could have been much more thorough.

[pdxwornath]

We could not have this many vending machines in America because they would all be destroyed within a day.

[simoncurtis]

I find it amazing how Japan can be so technologically advanced but still be incredibly in touch with their history and culture. I went last Summer and it was a life changing experience, planning on going back...

[darrendelong]

VOX, do your research next time. Ask the locals to have a clearer picture rather formulate your own opinion, that way you have a better understanding than the things that you made up by your own imagination.

[PhilKnall]

You forgot one of the most obvious reasons: because nobody cracks them open or lights them on fire like they would in other countries...

[chocolateman]

Let's just take a second to appreciate the stability of this video 👏

[silentstone]

all those lonely vending machines are so A E S T H E T I C

[meow-ej]

Johnny, next time you visit Tokyo consider having a Suica card, charge them with whatever cash and coin, and you won't have to carry so much coin anymore.
Small stores, vending machines and ramen booths won't take Visas or Mastercards but they will surely accept Suicas...

[leomeyer]

No notification, just a slight addiction.