Trending Vending Machines in Japan

A solar powered pop machine in Kyoto with the usual drink options

In the steaming summer of Japan you’re covered in sweat, the thick air is getting harder to breath, and all you can think of is how badly you want a cold (insert drink of choice here). But hang in there! For this is Japan, and Japan has a hardy supply of vending machines anywhere imaginable. Outside shrines, inside cemeteries, wedged between two buildings in an otherwise unusable space; wandering down any street in Japan, no matter how desolate or rural, you’re sure to cross one. Let’s face it, it has sort of become a trademark of Japan.

I remember the peak of summer three years ago when I’d be lying on my futon in an un-air-conditioned house. It was impossible to get comfortable so I’d just lie in a sticky heap without the energy to do anything. When the situation became unbearable, I’d finally be drawn out of my house by the incenting thought of a nice cold Pine Cider. I’d stand by the vending machine in our small neighborhood dominated by elderly Japanese women, listening to the semi and staring hopelessly into the thick forest surrounding the area. Who refills all these things?  I’d wonder while my brain melted into a puddle. Then I’d return home to collapse on my futon without giving it another thought.

While looking for inspiration for my blog, I just had to glance around my room. My room is littered with empty bottles. The classic “Evian”, the popular “namacha”, the interesting… “Jabaramaru”? What the heck is this? Yes, the variety in Japanese vending machines fascinates me to no end. When you see grape soda with jelly inside or crème brule latte, how can you resist?

The Japan Vending Machine Manufactures Association says there’s as many as one vending machine for every 23 people, which is pretty incredible, I think. These aren’t all for soda though! Somehow Japan has an amazing market for cell phone straps. It’s not uncommon to see 10 gaudy straps hanging from one itsy-bitsy cell phone, but that’s a different story. There are regular snack vending machines like in America, but also beer, cigarette, and sock vending machines. I even hear they have a vending machine that sells women’s used panties to perverts (or to whomever else in the market for them).

Built for convenience, it’s undeniable that vending machines are becoming an image of advancing Japanese culture. I’ve yet to see one of these elusive vending machine refillers, but  they are true heroes to those of us on the verge of heat-stroke in mid-summer. 

Stray Cats of Japan

A young stray queen missing an eye, Fukui, Japan

Last week as I was walking to school, I saw an orange tabby lounging in the morning sun in an empty driveway. I had seen this particular tom stalking the streets often in the evening, and I wanted to take this opportunity to meet him. You see, I’m very much a cat person. I crouched down beside the scruffy tom, extended my hand, and stroked his back gently. It was obvious as I withdrew my hand. He was dead. Regardless, I watched him closely, hoping I was wrong, and that perhaps the wind ruffling his fur was actually him breathing. A young Japanese man in business attire stopped next to me, and gasped a quiet, “Ara!” He looked from me, to the cat, and then back to me before consoling declaring the cat dead. I nodded and stood, then took my leave quite abruptly. Helplessness and agitation were already setting in as I marched onward towards the train station.

Poor tom. What could I have done? Even as I think this, other toms are marking their territory and doing their rounds. Queens in estrus are calling to them.  In another two months, she will bring another four to ten homeless cats into Japan’s alleys. It doesn’t end. Don’t Japanese people care about cats? I thought as rage bubbled up inside me. Is it so hard to spay and neuter your pets? The question is destined to loom over me for my entire life, regardless of my country.

Tom takes shelter in a shrine at Neyagawashi

The one intolerable thing about Japanese culture is their refusal to properly alter their pets. That’s right Japan, I’m calling you out. You have a stray cat problem. The problem is very simply understood, very painstakingly solved. First, Japanese don’t spay and neuter their pets because it’s expensive and inconvenient. These choices are then justified with weak claims about the animal’s freedom to reproduce. The sparse Japanese animal shelters don’t even spay or neuter their animals because they know no one will claim them; Japanese people rarely buy used things. Stray dogs and cats will be euthanized in a short two weeks time, but at least these animals won’t face starvation, lethal illness, or a violent death. Finally, well-intentioned people feed cat colonies, thus allowing them to thrive and reproduce. The Japanese feeding these cats don’t realize their cat colony will increase exponentially until they simply can’t afford to feed their cats anymore. If Japanese people could come to understand the ill effects of refusing to spay and neuter their pets, I believe these compassionate people would make the right decisions.

A black stray at Fushimi Inari clearly suffering from sickness

A dusty stray living near Hirakata Station

A cat from Neyagawashi's shrine's colony

An inquisitive stray with a slight eye infection