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When asked how Japanese people in foreign countries feel about life abroad, an "inconvenience" often appears in the answer. What's inconvenient in a foreign country? -"There are too few vending machines". Indeed, people who have been to Japan will be impressed by the vending machines that can be seen almost everywhere in Japan. It is almost no exaggeration to say that vending machines have become a way of life in Japan.
How many vending machines are there in Japan? According to the statistics of Japan Vending Machine Industry Association, at the end of 2007, there were 5,405,300 vending machines in Japan-an average of less than 30 people, which is amazing enough.
What do vending machines in Japan sell? Before answering this question, we must first find out what the concept of "vending machine" is in Japan. The concept of "vending machine" in Japan is broader than that in other countries. In addition to selling tangible things in their own jobs, they also sell "services". This "service" includes changing money (whole zero, whole zero), renting video tapes, and even coin-operated small deposit and withdrawal boxes at stations. However, the bank's ATMs are not included in the statistics, so after deducting the "automatic service machines", only 4.2 million units actually sell things, which is the data of an average of 30 people.
The vending machine that sells the most drinks in Japan. There are 2.3 million cold drinks alone, and 2.6 million other coffee, milk and alcohol, about half of which are cigarettes and food. What's more, everything is in a mess, from tickets to stamps, from newspapers to adult magazine, from condoms to tampons.
There is a reason why vending machines are so popular in Japan. Vending machines themselves appeared long ago. It is said that it appeared in the temple in Alexandria, Egypt around 2 15 BC and was designed by Hiro. It uses the lever principle to put the weight of coins into the "magic water" flowing out when the temple resets the container and sells it.
(An unmanned gas station is actually a vending machine. )
Although it has such a long history, the real application of vending machines will not be until after the industrial revolution. It is generally believed that 1880 was the first coin-operated vending machine, which appeared in London to sell postcards. 1888 In Parsippany, New Jersey, the machine for selling chewing gum set up by Cadbury Adams Company was the first vending machine in the United States. In the same year, a cigarette vending machine invented by Miguchi Takashi appeared in Japan. 1904 The stamp vending machine made by Miguchi is still kept in the "Delivery Complex" as the oldest existing vending machine. In fact, eight months before Miguchi's invention, a man named Xiao Ye Xiusan got the No.848 patent with the idea of "vending machine".
Using vending machines is different from using other machines. Besides using vending machines can help sellers save labor costs and bring economic benefits and convenience to consumers, they also need more social knowledge. First of all, we need reliable electromechanical technology. The party selling goods with vending machines must have sufficient guarantee to recover real money and silver. Conversely, customers can only use vending machines after they believe that they can take out the goods they want after investing money. The author once used a coffee vending machine at Pudong Airport, but after finding that there was no response after the money was invested, he had to take self-defense measures and did not ask the vending machine for help. Secondly, there must be a good social order to ensure that vending machines in unmanned environments will not be in danger of being destroyed.
Japan has these needs and conditions at the same time. First of all, Japan's labor costs are extremely expensive. It is better to buy a machine and turn on electricity than to spend money on hiring people. If you don't eat or drink, there will be no problem for a few hours a day. Japanese people work long hours and come home late from work. Ordinary stores can't open for this kind of scattered demand because of insufficient sales and operating expenses. Vending machines can meet this social demand well. Japan's high-quality electromechanical industry can provide all kinds of reliable vending machines for all kinds of goods, and Japan's good social security also ensures that vending machines in outdoor unmanned environments will not be destroyed.
But these are all relative. Japan's vending machine system is not absolutely without problems, just a little less. In fact, crime and crime prevention around vending machines have never stopped in Japan. There is money in the vending machine, and it is cash, which attracts the attention of criminals most. In the early 1990s, it was found that the high frequency emitted by BB guns for women's self-defense could make the coin recognition device inside the vending machine fail, so someone beat the vending machine everywhere with BB guns. When the police questioned two suspicious people on the road, they found that they actually carried 18kg coins-the police couldn't think of any reason for a person to carry 18kg coins on the road except just robbing the vending machine. Of course, this loophole was immediately closed, and now they can't pay for pointing BB guns at vending machines.