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Japanese Vending Machines at Night Juxtaposed with a Wintry Hokkaido Landscape

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Re: Japanese Vending Machines at Night Juxtaposed with a Wintry Hokkaido Landscape

#41

Post by davidw »

krapp wrote: post #36

When the story about the Bodega startup[0] came out, it occurred to me that what they were trying to do was essentially what Japan is already doing with vending machines - automate retail at scale. Unfortunately, Bodega tried to undermine, transform and rebrand the local culture in a way that many found offensive, but that aside, I wonder what particular cultural elements make vending machines seem so successful in J…

> particular cultural elements make vending machines seem so successful in Japan

Not being vandalized is mentioned in the article.

People in Italy were always kind of surprised to hear about US newspaper machines - the ones where you put in some coins - and you can take out as many newspapers as you want, essentially. They'd joke that people would regularly take them all in Italy, and in Naples they'd probably just haul off the whole machine, change, newspapers and all.

Re: Japanese Vending Machines at Night Juxtaposed with a Wintry Hokkaido Landscape

#42

Post by jefurii »

krapp wrote: post #36

When the story about the Bodega startup[0] came out, it occurred to me that what they were trying to do was essentially what Japan is already doing with vending machines - automate retail at scale. Unfortunately, Bodega tried to undermine, transform and rebrand the local culture in a way that many found offensive, but that aside, I wonder what particular cultural elements make vending machines seem so successful in J…

Nope, different. Many of those pictures have vending machines sitting outside neighborhood mom-and-pop stores. From my experience living in Japan, those machines are most likely owned/leased by the owner of the store, who stocks them and collects the profits. They function as a labor-saving device for high-trafficked items and a way to sell during off-hours.

My understanding of Bodega is that they want to replace the mom-and-pop store with a centralized vertically-integrated company (theirs).

Re: Japanese Vending Machines at Night Juxtaposed with a Wintry Hokkaido Landscape

#43

Post by greggman »

skeltoac wrote: post #19

Are there still machines selling cans of beer? That was one of the highlights of my visit to Tokyo. My host advised me that I must either stand at the machine and drink it or put it away while I walked. No drinking and walking. I was 14.

yes there are still beer vending machines in Tokyo as well as other liqour but they now require a special liqour id card to prove your age.

Re: Japanese Vending Machines at Night Juxtaposed with a Wintry Hokkaido Landscape

#44

Post by iand675 »

StavrosK wrote: post #32
komali2 wrote: post #9

Those Japanese vending machines blow my mind. I got lost on takao mountain once and was utterly hopeless of ever finding civilization again. I found abandoned and rotting tractors the forest had taken back, weird half completed concrete structures, the trail was gone, I was well and truly lost. Then, I turn a corner, and find a goddamned vending machine. Powered. With stock. I followed its power cord back for a solid…

Wait wait wait, so that photo of the vending machine in the middle of nowhere isn't a set up by the photographer? I thought he put the machine there, along with a generator behind it, just to take the photo!

It's really like that. In the countryside, you'll occasionally see rice fields with small walkways in between them in a + configuration with a vending machine hanging out in the middle. Presumably for the farmers to get something to drink...

Re: Japanese Vending Machines at Night Juxtaposed with a Wintry Hokkaido Landscape

#45

Post by iand675 »

The odd thing to me about Japan's vending machine situation is that it's largely drinks. Not much in the way of the snack vending machines that one frequently encounters in the U.S.

I suppose it's probably due to the Japanese aversion to preservatives / prevalence of convenience stores, but one would think they'd have come up with some tricks like the ones they've perfected with cup noodles.

Re: Japanese Vending Machines at Night Juxtaposed with a Wintry Hokkaido Landscape

#46

Post by iand675 »

bschwindHN wrote: post #23

While we're on the subject of Japanese vending machines, how do they implement the IC card scanning feature? Does it need to be connected to a special network or is the logic all done on the card? I'm specifically talking about the payment verification and logic. I have one in my office that accepts IC card payment and I'm not quite sure what is required for that to work.

I'm not entirely sure, but yesterday I observed some vending machines at a local university that worked with student IDs. The machines had a small antenna encased in the drink display, so presumably that model broadcast payment and/or inventory updates to some nearby receiver or via stock WiFi networks.

I'd expect that there would be a strong incentive to have the cards require network access to verify balances or else some enterprising hackers could potentially reverse engineer the process to add additional funds to the card.

Re: Japanese Vending Machines at Night Juxtaposed with a Wintry Hokkaido Landscape

#47

Post by mc32 »

krapp wrote: post #36

When the story about the Bodega startup[0] came out, it occurred to me that what they were trying to do was essentially what Japan is already doing with vending machines - automate retail at scale. Unfortunately, Bodega tried to undermine, transform and rebrand the local culture in a way that many found offensive, but that aside, I wonder what particular cultural elements make vending machines seem so successful in J…

I don't get the bodega hooplah. Every startup is taking away some way of making a living of someone else.

It's like saying pizza hut coopted Italian pizza joints and drove Italian pizza makers out of biz. Sure, it did, but aside from the fact jobs were lateralized, what's the big deal about transforming the biz?

Same with Uber et all.

Re: Japanese Vending Machines at Night Juxtaposed with a Wintry Hokkaido Landscape

#48

Post by addedlovely »

iand675 wrote: post #45

The odd thing to me about Japan's vending machine situation is that it's largely drinks. Not much in the way of the snack vending machines that one frequently encounters in the U.S. I suppose it's probably due to the Japanese aversion to preservatives / prevalence of convenience stores, but one would think they'd have come up with some tricks like the ones they've perfected with cup noodles.

I remember also getting vended fries, but hot and cold drinks alone blew my mind coming from the U.K.

Re: Japanese Vending Machines at Night Juxtaposed with a Wintry Hokkaido Landscape

#49

Post by protomyth »

krapp wrote: post #36

When the story about the Bodega startup[0] came out, it occurred to me that what they were trying to do was essentially what Japan is already doing with vending machines - automate retail at scale. Unfortunately, Bodega tried to undermine, transform and rebrand the local culture in a way that many found offensive, but that aside, I wonder what particular cultural elements make vending machines seem so successful in J…

In the US, RedBox (well, CoinStar in general) seems to have figured out the right formula for successful vending machines.

Re: Japanese Vending Machines at Night Juxtaposed with a Wintry Hokkaido Landscape

#50

Post by on_and_off »

komali2 wrote: post #9

Those Japanese vending machines blow my mind. I got lost on takao mountain once and was utterly hopeless of ever finding civilization again. I found abandoned and rotting tractors the forest had taken back, weird half completed concrete structures, the trail was gone, I was well and truly lost. Then, I turn a corner, and find a goddamned vending machine. Powered. With stock. I followed its power cord back for a solid…

Who buys stuff in a vending machine in the middle of nowhere though ?

I am really intrigued.

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