Jihanki

It is staggering what range of items and even services you can buy in Japan with absolutely no human interaction. From soft-drinks to "used" schoolgirl panties, with cigarettes, beer and sake, ice cream, toilet paper, coffee (hot or cold), porno mags, fresh eggs, subway and train tickets, and rice in between. You can also get your photos printed or cell phone recharged at a machine. And at some cheap restaurants you make your food selection and payment at a machine before you sit down at a table. Some true enthusiasts make great sport of jihanki-spotting (see here and here and here for some compilations). So I will just give a couple personal observations here...

Jay approves of the coffee selection

First, one can wonder about what all that easily accessible beer does to the drinking habits of Japanese youth (answer: booze is easily accessible and consequently not very interesting). Next, one has to wonder about the nature of inter-human interactions in a society which so heavily tries to avoid human contact (answer: hey - if you crave for human attention then you can always go do your shopping at a combini...).

They may stop at a condom-vending machine. Then again, there really is no need as there will no doubt be one in the Lobe Hoteru

Sighted in a cigarette vending machine in Kyoto... a dry sense of humor?

Next, I admit that the convenience is... well... convenient. It helps, of course, that vending machines here invariably accept both coins and paper money up to at least 1000 yen and that they never seem to run out of change. But best of all, it helps that they stock milku-tea. (Repeat after me to the tune of Homer Simpson eying a donut: "Mmmm... milku-tea...").

Mmm... milku-tea... Oh, wait! That's not milku-tea! Umm... tech support...? you can overwrite that image, can't you?

Jihanki

It is staggering what range of items and even services you can buy in Japan with absolutely no human interaction. From soft-drinks to "used" schoolgirl panties, with cigarettes, beer and sake, ice cream, toilet paper, coffee (hot or cold), porno mags, fresh eggs, subway and train tickets, and rice in between. You can also get your photos printed or cell phone recharged at a machine. And at some cheap restaurants you make your food selection and payment at a machine before you sit down at a table. Some true enthusiasts make great sport of jihanki-spotting (see here and here and here for some compilations). So I will just give a couple personal observations here...

Jay approves of the coffee selection

First, one can wonder about what all that easily accessible beer does to the drinking habits of Japanese youth (answer: booze is easily accessible and consequently not very interesting). Next, one has to wonder about the nature of inter-human interactions in a society which so heavily tries to avoid human contact (answer: hey - if you crave for human attention then you can always go do your shopping at a combini...).

They may stop at a condom-vending machine. Then again, there really is no need as there will no doubt be one in the Lobe Hoteru

Sighted in a cigarette vending machine in Kyoto... a dry sense of humor?

Next, I admit that the convenience is... well... convenient. It helps, of course, that vending machines here invariably accept both coins and paper money up to at least 1000 yen and that they never seem to run out of change. But best of all, it helps that they stock milku-tea. (Repeat after me to the tune of Homer Simpson eying a donut: "Mmmm... milku-tea...").

Mmm... milku-tea... Oh, wait! That's not milku-tea! Umm... tech support...? you can overwrite that image, can't you?