June 2, 2009

Postcard from Tokyo: Rise of the (vending) machines

Japanese vending machines, at your service any time. Creative Commons photo by David Ooms. In North America, we barely notice vending machines. They dispense soft drinks, water, sometimes coffee (or laundry soap in laundromats). In Japan, however, vending machines have been elevated to a fine art. To an outsider, these machines, called jidoohanbaiki, are ubiquitous — incredibly, there is one vending... [More >>]