Those vending machines look so /comfy/. :)
Japanese Vending Machines at Night Juxtaposed with a Wintry Hokkaido Landscape
91–100 of 171 posts
Re: Japanese Vending Machines at Night Juxtaposed with a Wintry Hokkaido Landscape
#92Earlier quoted context omitted.
There are even vending machines at the summit of Mt. Fuji.
An American who climed up Mt Fuji met local youth who carried up snacks and drinks on their back to the top of the mountain. These were to be sold at shops and I guess vending machines at top of the mountain. I heard that story about 20 years ago.
I saw some tractors delivering stuff to some of the huts and vending machines. There are also some police and ambulance services available. That was about 9 years ago.
The mountain is only officially open for a short time each year. I think most of the employees at the huts and other facilities are college students taking summer jobs.
Re: Japanese Vending Machines at Night Juxtaposed with a Wintry Hokkaido Landscape
#93Those 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…
> I got lost on takao mountain once and was utterly hopeless of ever finding civilization again.
Wait, what? Takao mountain is in Tokyo! Yeah, not central Tokyo but still, it's like a 45min train ride from Shinjuku. You make it sound like it's some remote place full of bears. :-p
Re: Japanese Vending Machines at Night Juxtaposed with a Wintry Hokkaido Landscape
#94In many ways Japan seems like a paradise.
Crime free, almost, 70%+ forest coverage, technologically advanced but still respect for long-standing cultural traditions.
It's unrivalled social cohesiveness comes at the cost though of a lack of diversity. For example, I read somewhere it gets less than 100 asylum seekers a year.
Re: Japanese Vending Machines at Night Juxtaposed with a Wintry Hokkaido Landscape
#95Some vending machines in Japan are designed to give out free drinks during an emergency [0]. That could be one of the reasons why there are so many well-maintained vending machines everywhere, even in remote areas. [0] http://www.coca-colacompany.com/stories/16-things-you-didnt-...
That is such a sensible idea that it will never catch on anywhere else.
Re: Japanese Vending Machines at Night Juxtaposed with a Wintry Hokkaido Landscape
#96Getting a hot chocolate out of a vending machine while the sky is dumping snow is one of life's many sublime pleasures.
For me it was the hot milk tea. Almost impossible to find in the West, every morning at near freezing temps I could cling to a metal piping hot can of sweet milk tea. I can't go a day in .jp without grabbing a can.
What really surprised me is how in a place like Tokyo the machines seemed to only reliably function using change, whereas in Norway you pay for bus station lockers and public toilets with credit cards.
Re: Japanese Vending Machines at Night Juxtaposed with a Wintry Hokkaido Landscape
#97In many ways Japan seems like a paradise. Crime free, almost, 70%+ forest coverage, technologically advanced but still respect for long-standing cultural traditions. It's unrivalled social cohesiveness comes at the cost though of a lack of diversity. For example, I read somewhere it gets less than 100 asylum seekers a year.
> social cohesiveness
Also known as xenophobia.
>For example, I read somewhere it gets less than 100 asylum seekers a year.
And this is by definition a good thing?
Don't forget the awesome working hours and working culture! It's so good that they even have a word for the awesome overworking: Karoshi [1].
I wouldn't romanticize Japan this hard as you are doing right now, it has it's own sleuth of problems just like any other country.
[1] Karoshi (Overwork Death) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kar%C5%8Dshi
Re: Japanese Vending Machines at Night Juxtaposed with a Wintry Hokkaido Landscape
#98Earlier quoted context omitted.
Oh wow, that's crazy. I've only been to Tokyo, where they weren't out of place, but out in the fields? Sounds like quite the sight.
Yeah. Every now and again you'll also come across some 50-year old looking mechanical rice vending machine, selling 5, 10 and 15 kg bags of rice.
The photo 5th from the bottom actually appears to be of a coin-operated rice mill!
Re: Japanese Vending Machines at Night Juxtaposed with a Wintry Hokkaido Landscape
#99In many ways Japan seems like a paradise. Crime free, almost, 70%+ forest coverage, technologically advanced but still respect for long-standing cultural traditions. It's unrivalled social cohesiveness comes at the cost though of a lack of diversity. For example, I read somewhere it gets less than 100 asylum seekers a year.
> social cohesiveness Also known as xenophobia. >For example, I read somewhere it gets less than 100 asylum seekers a year. And this is by definition a good thing? Don't forget the awesome working hours and working culture! It's so good that they even have a word for the awesome overworking: Karoshi [1]. I wouldn't romanticize Japan this hard as you are doing right now, it has it's own sleuth of problems just like an…
Indeed, I say this time and again to friends and family who marvel at a lifestyle that has allowed me to live on several continents: there is no such thing as a perfect place to live.
Re: Japanese Vending Machines at Night Juxtaposed with a Wintry Hokkaido Landscape
#100Those 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!
In some old arcade games you had these machines all over to dispense health. This always struck me as odd and unrealistic until I visited Japan and saw that it really is like that.