Vending Machines
In Japan it seems you can buy almost anything from a vending machine. Here are some of the more unusual ones I've come across on my travels.
(Note to people arriving from search engines: I have never come across a "used panty vending machine", and the word on the street is that if they weren't just an urban legend, they were a passing fad of the late 80s / early 90s which now live on only in the voyeuristic ambitions of foreign media. The closest I can offer you is this new panty vending machine with what appears to be male and female "erotic" underwear.)
Friday, November 16, 2007 7:39 PM
While in Kyoto in 2002 I stumbled across a little roofed-over space between two buildings containing
half-a-dozen vending machines. Not your normal ones, oh no: these were peddling various items which
shouldn't be made available to minors. Among them the above device: I thought I'd stumbled across one
of the legendary Used Panty Vending Machines, but on closer inspection it appears to be offering "his" (left)
and "hers" (right) lower torso underwear of a slighly saucy nature.
Friday, March 4, 2005 8:27 PM
Japan has a long tradition of eki-ben (駅弁) - literally "station packed lunches" - which consist of a tray of Japanese food, typically reflecting the local culinary tradition of the station's region. These are sold at the station or even on the train and are usually eaten cold.
But hey, if you're travelling in Japan for any length of time you get sick of all this traditional stuff and long for a good home cooked meal just like a vending machine would make it. Look no further than Shin Osaka Station.
Friday, February 25, 2005 7:51 PM
Japan is home to an astonishing variety of vending machines, many of which talk to you and will sell you anything from canned drinks to magazines with pictures of scantily clad locals.
