When talking about Japanese culture, one surprising thing is their unique vending machine culture.

Vending machines in Japan can be found on almost every street in the city.

According to data released by the Japan Vending Machine Manufacturers Association, the number of vending machines in Japan currently exceeds five million, with annual sales exceeding US$60 billion.

Calculated, approximately every 23 Japanese people own a vending machine.

The term vending machine is explained as a machine that has the function of detecting currency, automatically conducts transactions with customers, and helps customers purchase selected goods.

Japanese businessmen put almost everything they can into vending machines. In addition to the common beverage and snack vending machines in China, Japanese vending machines also include cigarettes, tea, candy, beer, hot food and even amulets.

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25 Things Found in Japan”, “9 Crazy Japanese Vending Machines”, “7 of the Weirdest Japanese Vending Machines”.

The popularity and diversity of vending machines in Japan is not an unknown topic.

The original reason why Japanese vending machines are all over the streets is because of "poverty".

With the development of Japan's economy in the last century, the birth rate dropped and the population aged seriously, resulting in higher and higher labor costs. Japanese retailers began to introduce a large number of vending machines. The vending machines only require a small number of operation and maintenance personnel to visit the operator regularly to replenish supplies.

and clear out cash, which reduces operating costs.

With the development of the economy, high housing prices have become another reason for the development of vending machines.

Japan has one of the highest population densities in the world, with 93 percent of the population living in cities.

High density of population has led to high housing prices.

In Tokyo, where land is at a premium, retailers barely have enough room to store consumer goods.

Many companies would rather put a vending machine on the street than open a store.

This is not only true for the retail industry. In the Japanese drama "The Lonely Gourmet", some of the restaurants where the protagonist Goro dines are only eight or nine square meters in size.

In the late 1990s, an economic bubble appeared in Japan, and urban real estate and housing prices declined. However, retailers were unwilling to rent shops and open stores because the income generated by vending machines was far greater than that of opening stores.

The large number of urban residents has given rise to a variety of vending machines.

The types of vending machines are gradually expanding, from beverages to restaurants, department stores and other fields.

Japanese people, especially those working in Tokyo, are busy at work, and time-saving vending machines are their first choice when working.

One of the reasons why Japanese vending machines have continued to grow from the last century to this day is because of Japan's low crime rate, with less vandalism and property crime.

Japan is ranked as having one of the lowest robbery rates in the world.

Even if goods worth tens of thousands of yen are placed in vending machines or placed in remote alleys and streets, they are rarely damaged.

And many vending machines are equipped with cameras. When the machine is damaged, the camera will automatically connect to the police station.

Another reason is the Japanese's reliance on cash.

Unlike China, where the proportion of mobile payments has been increasing in recent years, Japanese people are still keen on using cash.

Japanese coins have high denominations such as 50, 100, and 500 yen.

When you have a lot of coins in your pocket, throwing them into a vending machine becomes a smart move.

Recently, in order to cater to Chinese tourists visiting Japan, the Japanese beverage company Itoen and NEOS***, a smartphone-related service provider, have jointly developed a vending machine that can be paid using "WeChat Pay" and strive to have it before the summer of 2018.

Set up 100 units in Japan.

A Japanese journalist, Tsutomu Washizu, once wrote a history book about Japanese vending machines. In the book, he attributed the popularity of vending machines to the Japanese people's love of automation and robots.

The Japanese attach great importance to and trust automation systems, and most of Japan's vending machines are technically very passable, have a relatively long lifespan, and have a low elimination rate.

This is one of the reasons why vending machines continue to increase.

Perhaps in the near future, Japan will make a vending machine Superman movie to express their love for vending machines.

Compared with Japan, China's vending machine industry is still in its infancy.

Suppliers have focused on university campuses and are sparse in the city's bustling neighborhoods.

The reason is due to the developed takeout system and the rise of convenience stores in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen.

Other cities are dotted with Chinese-style “tuck shops” where people don’t rely on vending machines.