There are many drink vending machines in Japan. At first I thought, I don’t care, I rarely used these in America so I won’t use them here. Over time I have come to use these, they are everywhere! For instance, about a block and a half from my apartment complex there are three such vending machines. In America we put our vending machines in social areas such as offices, ballparks, or road side stops. In Japan they put them just about anywhere. This particular grouping of vending machine is in the middle of a neighborhood, about 7 blocks from the nearest thing that Americans might consider a social gathering point. Strange, but even more strange are the prices!
As an American who tends to think in terms of monetary value when I first saw this machine I was a little confused and amused. If you look closely at the small can of CC Lemon you will see that it is 120 Yen, if you look at the large can of CC Lemon you will see that it is 120 Yen. The same price! The Mountain Dew and Pepsi follow the same fashion. I pondered why this was and got a simple explanation in a story from one of the books I have. Japanese tend to think in terms of efficiency, so, even if the colas are priced the same they will purchase the drink that they are able to consume, not the one that is a better monetary value. That is the price we pay.
4 comments:
Say i-ye to suboptimal vending:
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There's way too many choices.
Nah I guess not after looking again. There's not much difference than going into a gas station with20 10 foot coolers of beverages.
I bet some of them are tasty. :)
Sandy, CC Lemon is so good. It tastes good, lemon like and is soda, but, BUT it has the Vitamin C of 70 Lemons. Bingo bango, a slightly nutritious soda. Not that I'm duped, but I like the taste and the vitamin C thing I like so CC Lemon is a common choice for me. Otherwise I get the tea, which is not sweet, but bitter. At first I hated that, but I have grown to love it.
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