This Is Japan
Explore everyday life in Japan
When I think of all the wild and crazy things that my friends and I did to get beer in high school,
like steal it from people’s garages, unload it by the case from a freight train that had come to rest in our town, drive like maniacs into the rougher parts of the city where we paid for beer at the front counters of a few stores and then slyly picked it up in brown bags that had been set in back alleys besides the stores’ back doors, I think, a vending machine like this one, with no I.D. requirements and very few people around it, wouldn’t have lasted a day. Yet here it is, in Niigata, Japan, largely untouched and full of alcohol.
From what I can tell, there aren’t too many of these vending machines left. If you go to an onsen or a bathhouse, or if you ride on a ferry, you are sure to find beer, sake, and Chu-hi vending machines there, but outside, on the street, they are a bit of a rarity. At least, they are where I live.
I have known people who lived or did homestays in Japan during the 70’s, 80’s, and 90’s, and just about every one of them has a story about raiding one of these vending machines with their friends and getting pissed drunk to celebrate their 15th, 16th, 17th, or 18th birthdays. I’m sure that there must be teenagers these days who still take advantage of these simple and easy ways to buy alcohol, but my guess is that the kids who do so are rare.
In a way, I think buying alcohol from these vending machines might be a lot like ringing the doorbell of a house that you think is haunted as a kid. It takes a lot of courage to overcome your fear of the unknown and, in this case, possibly, the fear of being caught.
This is an ongoing series that will explore various aspects of daily life in Japan. My hope is that this series will not only reveal to its followers, image by image, what Japan looks like, but that it will also inform its followers about unique Japanese items and various cultural and societal practices. If you are interested in getting regular updates about life in Japan, please consider following me at @boxcarblue. If you have any questions about life in Japan, please don’t hesitate to ask. I will do my best to answer all of your questions.
Kids in Niigata must be much better behaved than kids in Okazaki. They shut down most of the beer vending machines a few years ago and put ID requirements on the few remaining because high schoolers were getting drunk out of their mind every weekend, causing trouble and then throwing up everywhere. Ah well, they were nice while they lasted.
(Tho older folks tell me Japanese kids have always abused the beer vending machines, the only difference is that parents today are way too overprotective and demand the gov take action whereas in the past they ignored it and let the kids be kids)
You know, I have no idea what high school kids do in Niigata. They must drink and get in trouble, but I don’t really know. There aren’t many of these vending machines left, but I like to buy a beer from one whenever I come across them, and they always have beer in them. Maybe if I paid more attention to the Chu-Hi and Cup Sake I would find them sold out. I’m not sure.
I remember seeing very young kids in Okayama passed out and piling all over the place when I was there eight years ago, but I’ve never seen that in Niigata. I’ll have to ask some people about what high schoolers get up to here.
things change with time...
That’s a given. In which way are you implying?
in your opening paragraph..talking about how difdicult it was to get beer.certainly it isnt the case no more.u dont go through all those stress no more.time has changed and has given you a choice.u now choose to drink beer comfortably
Well, I’m much older now, so that helps. If I were still 16, it might be harder now than it used to be.
time again come into play...am in Nigeria and its a lot harder to get beer in school. seen vending machines only in few places
They are all over Japan. It’s unvelievable how many there are.
My son and his high school friends got in trouble coming back onto Misawa Air Base after partaking from one of these machines, and they all ended up doing community service. Of course, we were also aware of kids going into liquor stores and buying hard liquor "for their father" with no questions asked. Myself, I enjoyed the coffee and cheeseburger vending machines at rest stops along the highway.
I like the coffee ones too. Surprisingly, the coffee is pretty good. I’ve been a little too scared to try the hamburger ones.
Did your son and his friends do community service through the Misawa base, or was that something the city asked them to do?
The base. He helped with a computer upgrade in the hospital. It was actually a good experience.
Yeah I think it’s rare. I don’t see beer vending on the streets in Japan. Only in most hotels.
I really enjoy finding these. They’re like four-leaved clovers or something.😊
懐かしい！もうわたしの家の近くにはないです(T ^ T)
やっぱり、珍しい物なんですね。カードがないとタバコが買えないのにビールを買うとしたらカードが必要じゃないのは面白いと思います。
I wish this machine was around during my school years,i would be taking advantage of it every weekend.
Yeah, right. It’s probably a good thing it wasn’t around. 😁
Lol
what is the box taped to the outside for?
Do you mean the Asahi beer can picture? I’m not sure if that’s a box or not. I didn’t pay much attention to it when I took the picture, and now I can’t tell if it’s a box or just an advertisement. I’ll have to go back and look.
At first I thought you could buy a whole case in the machine and I was momentarily amazed but then I looked closer and it was taped on front.
Yeah, you can’t buy a whole case. At least, not in a box you can’t.
Wow! I can't imagine that such type of machine exist .I hope my city will also have a such machine .Thanks for sharing this. ...But in my indian culture especially in Rajasthan it's hard to get beer...i'm 21 and I never take it 😀
I found it a little challenging to get beer and alcohol when I was in India. Many people told me that drinking was frowned upon there.
Thank you for providing such useful information. It was an interesting read.
I’m glad you enjoyed it.
WOW. for the first time I see such a machine :)
this is great! I wish I had one in the city where I live now.
I can make the machine richer: D Japanese culture always attracts my attention. Interesting and wonderful! this series went well.
I am curious for more information. sorry for my bad english ..
I’ve written many articles about Japan. Feel free to follow the previous post links back in time.
I’ve wondered about owning a vending machine too. Maybe you can make the first beer vending machine in your country.
hah :) that would be great. but unfortunately in our country alcoholic beverages are not very legal.
we have limitations :) we drink secretly. but I can put one in my house: D
for my family and my friends
That would be funny. You can find instructions for how to make out of cardboard online.