The history of Japanese vending machines
Ping Mag has a great write-up on the hallucinogenic consumerist scope of Japanese vending machines:
To go back a bit, the first known vending machine was a pneumatically driven holy water vending machine in an Egyptian temple in Alexandria in 215 B.C. The first Japanese machine made its dedebut over 2 millenniums later in 1890 and the oldest existing stamp vending machine from 1904 can still be seen at the Museum Meiji-Mura. Since then, the number of machines has risen to an astonishing 5,405,300, making Japan the country with the highest concentration in the world (one for every 23 people!) While half of these are standard soft drink vending machines, a surprising number of contraptions sell more unusual fare. There are 118,000 machines selling razors and socks and an impressive 5,500 issuing cans of noodles.
The much-fabled-but-never-seen used panty vending machines — which Internet legend would have us believe are ubiquitous fixtures in every Tokyo subway men's room, but which I once spent half-a-day fruitlessly hunting for — do not make an appearance, because they are imaginary vendomatic leprechauns. Sorry, huffers.
Vending Machine Extravaganza [Ping Mag]
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Did you find any of the porn vending machines that have metal covers that roll up automatically after sundown?
From what I understand the used-panty-vending machine is a myth. There are panty-vending machines, I've heard, and people who sell used panties. But I don't think they've been combined. Of course, that really just means it's a matter of time.
I think I mentioned this somewhere on BB(G) before, but I was strolling the local college campus a few weeks ago, and decided I needed a drink. I found a vending machine that sold your standard drink fare, Soda, water, etc. in 20oz bottles. When I purchased a water from a robotic arm delivered it to a revolving door in an overly complicated way. It was actually kind of confusing, and I went to the wrong side of the vending machine to retrieve the drink. The college kids behind me snickered.
I'd bet this type of vending machine was old tech in Japan 3 years ago, I'd love to see how complicated cutting edge japanese vending machines are now.
The panty vending machine exists! It's not in Tokyo though, it's in Kyoto. It was on a backstreet of the area called Gion where all the Maiko/Geisha still work. The machine is no where close to a love hotel though...
Bad pic:
http://www.kuci.org/ryan/miyagawa/panties.jpg
The only place I've found a used panty vending machine is outside a used panty store. They DO exist, but the average foreign tourist wouldn't find them as I doubt they know where used panty stores are, or case to know.
As to why the fuck I was there, that's a different story.
(and panty UFO catchers are a lot more interesting than bloody vending machines)
The panty vending machine does exist. However, they are rare now, especially in the kanto region, because of the many crackdowns on porn, prostitution, love hotels and what not.
In Gion? You'd think it'd be across the river in that creepy network of alleys-off-alleys where the the doormen actually wriggle their eyebrows at you.
Which is where, unrelatedly, you'll find Cafe La Siesta, an 8-bit restaurant and bar. If you can find it, you can drink pretty cheap Yebisu, eat something vegetarian and play Nintendo and whatever arcade game they have that day, all while listening to 8-bit techno. Or whatever it's called.
The last time I was in Kyoto I saw a panty machine. It was next to a porn DVD machine and a liquor store. A one stop evening in...
I was in Japan for 3 weeks and I spent $1,000 in vending machines and gained a lot of weight doing it. Man, do I love weird food and drinks. It also didn't help that there was a beer machine 30 feet from the front door of the place I stayed at in Tokyo. I spent a lot of time looking for the whiskey vending machine that I heard of, but no luck.
As far as sex vending machines, I bought a small 100 yen vibrator for an ex-girlfriend as a joke. I was hoping it would come in a giant clear plastic shell, but it was just a piece of paper I had to take into the sex shop. Pretty embarrassing but funny.
My favorite was a vending machine outside an old coin shop that sold... Old coins. (Collectible old coins, like 5-sen coins and such.)
Beer and whiskey machines are great, but from next month, you need a chipped card to buy smokes. Not getting one of those—too creepy.
Actually, you already need one of those cards, called a Taspo card, to get cigarettes from vending machines. It went into effect a couple of months ago.
Vending machines with panties in them are real. My good friend who is going to school in Japan took a picture in front of one of them.
Oh and SNOPES says they are real http://www.snopes.com/risque/kinky/panties.asp
Sorry John Brownlee but you are wrong.
I too refuse to get a Taspo. Considering the pension data scandal and the "security" of the jukinet, why should I trust them to manage records of my identity, address, photo and smoking history? They have not even made it clear if the cig machines will be 24hr after the changeover.
I'm waiting for all the cig machine owners to start screaming bloody murder once their sales go into the toilet. Small merchants are a very powerful lobby here.
Pic and explanation of ill placed vending machine made to be handicapped accessible:
http://adfny.metalgear.org/blog/main/2004/09/11#handicaped_vending_machine
Pics of vending machines selling condoms, adult mags, videos, toys and yes indeed, panties
http://adfny.metalgear.org/blog/main/2004/09/11#porn_n_condoms
Pic of business card vending machine
http://adfny.metalgear.org/blog/main/2006/07/01#meishi_machine
Bilabialboxing
Not correct. In Tokyo the change has not yet gone into effect. We have 11 more days of carldless buying.