One thing about Japan: they love vending machines. There are more of them here than any other country on Earth — one for every 23 people — selling everything from hot canned coffee to microwaved meals to beer. The other day I drove into Tokyo on business with Yasu, and we stopped at a “parking area” (one of the rest stops along Japanese freeways, which are like little oases of convenience to weary travelers) to grab some lunch. The place we stopped at had recently been renovated and looked quite similar to one of the “food courts” you can find in American shopping malls, with many different small restaurants selling pizza, udon noodles, Panda Express-style Chinese food and so on. There was one big difference though: all the purchases were made via a vending machine located in the front of each shop, allowing customers to browse color pictures of the meals before purchasing a meal ticket, which they gave to the shop employee. It’s all very efficient, since all the money is stored inside the secure vending machine, and it frees up the employee who would have to man the cash register to cook your food instead. The only downside might be that foreigners who don’t read the language might have more difficulty choosing what to eat.
Vending machines are a big part of life in Japan.
