Welcome! To the first article of Culturious,today we are going to inform you about 10 Amazing things you didn’t know about vending machines in Japan!
1. There are about 3.8 million vending machines in Japan.
Of this total, 2.2 million dispense soft drinks.
2. Coca-Cola owns the No. 1 share of soft drink vending machines in Japan
3. Vending machines have operated in Japan for more than 50 years.
4. Japanese vending machines tell you your current location.<.h2>
5. 'Disaster-relief vending machines' dispense free beverages in times of disaster.
These vending machines were first installed in Japan in 2003 by the Coca-Colasystem. Controlled remotely over communications networks, free beverages are dispensed in times of emergency.
6. Annual sales from vending machines in Japan exceed 5 billion yen.
That's about $40 million! Soft drink sales account for 1,913,357,300 yen (about $16 million)
7. Vending machine energy consumption dropped 70% in the last 20 years.
Although vending machines are extremely convenient, they came at the expense of large amounts of energy consumption.
8. Some vending machines participate in ecological research for the Okinawa Rail (a species of bird)
In the north of the Okinawa mainland, a number of Coca-Cola system vending machines participate in ecological research for the Okinawa Rail, an endangered species of bird and Japanese natural monument.
9. The U.S. has the most vending machines in the world. Japan has the greatest density.
At the end of 2010, there were more than 6.9 million vending machines in the United States—the greatest number of any country in the world. But when population and land area are taken into account, Japan has the greatest density of vending machines in the world.
10. In Japan, only 40 percent of the brightly colored machines sell soft drinks.
while others offer a dizzying array of products, from hot coffee to draft beer, noodles, hot meals, cigarettes, neckties and bowling shoes. Some of the machines even talk.
Bonus!
After the Japan quake, Coco Cola rolled out specialized machines that solicited donations for victims,
and in the future, manufacturers are ensuring that machines will be better equipped to dispense information, free drinks and food during an emergency.
"Culture is the arts elevated to a set of beliefs."
–Thomas Wolfe