I heard that alcoholic drink vending machines exist, particularly outside Tokyo but first time seeing one. Not sure if its more common than I thought.
I question the need for them in Tokyo since theres at least 1 convenience store every square km.
by BookkeeperDecent7170
25 comments
I’ve never seen one in Tokyo but definitely saw some in Kyoto and one in Osaka. Do you think it’s more common in other cities or just generally not that common?
I only ever see them in or near hotels.
There is at least one inside like every business hotel.
I have a small local alcohol shop 2 minutes from my place. He has a vendingachine outside for alcohol when he is closed and I use it every now and again.
It’s a cool thing and sometime they have some more unique things in there. My one has glass bottle Asahi which you don’t find in combinis.
They used to be way more common. They also didn’t have the id scanners on them like now.
They were more common back in the 1990s, before the massive influx of convenience stores.
Nowadays, I really only see them inside Japanese-style hotels, particularly older ones.
Related; but, are there no more cigarette vending machines now? At one point, they had required a plastic ID card in order to purchase from the machine, but now I’ve realized that they’ve seemed to completely disappear?
Back in the old days, you would have the beer / cigarette / porn / used underwear vending machines all lined up in a row, as a one-stop debauchery Mecca.
Good selection! The Kirin Honshibori Lemon is excellent!
you’ll need some form of official ID(usually a drivers license) but similar to cigarette vending machines, they are becoming less common, and most are only located nearby either a spirit shop, or a cigarette shop.
I think they also turn off late at night?
That’s pretty epic. Please drink responsibly.
Wait until you find the condom machine at you neighbor park
They used to be everywhere – especially in Osaka and Kansai.
They are mainly outside those old local alcohol shops so the owner can sell alcohol after hours. (Although this one is not in operation from 11pm to 5am.)
They are also commonly found in hotels and onsens.
Apart from that, you are correct. People just go to a convenience store now.
They seem to be more common outside of Tokyo – I found lots of them when living in Kansai
There’s literally one 300m away from my house. I love 下町
oh cool they take myna card now. last time i seen one it only took some weird ic card that you could get by verifying you were over age.
I found one in tokyo, can’t remember where for the life of me. First time I tried strong zero lemon and drank 2 of em like juice.
I don’t drink often, and I’m quite a lightweight, so those were a fun experience.
Outside the gates of the high school I taught at had a cig, condom and alcohol vending machines. Sounds like they won’t be there now, this was 2000
Is that the one near the baseball stadium? It’s the only one I ever found
There are a few in my area. Where do you live?
I’m surprised it took you that long. There was one at the cigarette store beside my mansion in Ebina (Kanagawa). Where unused to live in Fukushima they were all over the place. Osaka too.
My grandma’s neighborhood still has one as well. Its a rare site indeed.
Their easy to find in hotels, but that’s a different vibe than grabbing a kirin from a vending machine near a liquor store.
all over the place in Kyoto
As of even a couple years ago there was one smack in the middle of Daikanyama, of all places. You can still find them in Tokyo if you know where to look.
Nostalgia aside, basically every combini in Tokyo is open 24h and has a liquor license so you’ll get much more variety. They’re still popular in hotels because you can just buy drinks wearing your pajamas.
We had a beer machine around the corner from my dorm in 1978! No scanning devices existed, it just worked. These were common in Fukuoka. I have not seen one recently. I’d expect they would be common in less populated areas with fewer retail stores.
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