"Vend"ever You Are Craving a Little Something...

 One of the things about Okinawa that just makes me smile is the surprisingly large number, and often odd placement, of vending machines. There are at least six vending machines on any given block around the cities of Okinawa.

 Often, the vending machines will be right next to each other, sometimes even three in a row although they tend to sell the same things at the same price. In most vending machines, the price for drinks range from 110-120 yen ($1.36-148), though in some places there are 100 yen ($1.24) vending machines that have a slightly less expansive selection.



 One of the coolest (or hottest, as the case may be) features of Japanese vending machines is that they serve both hot and cold drinks in the same machine! The machine pictured here is on Camp Foster, therefore hot and cold are labeled in English. Usually, the label is only in Japanese. It is easy to tell though, because the hot drinks are listed in red and the cold drinks listed in blue.

I am truly fascinated by hot beverages from a vending machine that will also sell my kids a cold Coke. My two favorite hot beverages are coffee in a can (Thanks Rene and Chase for tipping me off about these! They were the first thing I tried in Japan. I now buy them buy the case at the commissary- much cheaper that way) and milk tea.



Another interesting item about cans from Japanese vending machines is how heavy the bottoms are. The bottoms are extra thick. I was told by my neighbor it is to help the cans from blowing away when the drink gets low. Regardless of the reason though, there is one downfall: the deception that occurs when the weight of the can in the hand says there is more drink left! There have been several occasions where both Blair and I attempted to take another delcious sip, only to find the can is empty and our smiles faded at the realization we had been tricked by the weight of the can.
Also, do not try to crush one of these cans by stomping on it like an American can. Your foot will be in despair and you will look like an idiot. You've been warned, but I know any of you who ever have the chance will try anyway.



Vending  machines are forver popping up in odd locations. Trying to spot the strangest location has become a new game for me! It is endlessly entertaining, but I am easily amused (obviously).



This vending machine is parked outside a junk yard. While this may not be odd, I have also seen them outside houses (which usually have a home on each of two or three floors), at the entrance to restaurants, and even the entrance to office buildings.



Sometimes, machines are plopped down in places where a person would wonder, who ever even gets to use the thing. The machine above is at the edge of a farmer's field along a road that leads to more farms.

In my quest to find the most odd vending machine location, this one is the winner. It is hard to tell because we were driving and Blair wouldn't turn around so I could get a better shot, but the cement structures behind these two machines: those are shrines! In Okinawa, each family has a shrine (a blog post to come about Okinawan shrines soon). This one was located further down the road from the farmer's field machine.

Drinks are not the only items available from a vending machine on Okinawa. The white machine below vends ice cream! 

This machine vends cigarettes. There aren't as many of these as there are drink machines, but there are still quite a few throughout the island, especially in areas where there are a lot of convinience stores and apartment buildings (deeper in city areas than out in semi-suburban or touristy spots).

While there are many more interesting things to share about Okinawa, this is one of the simplest that amuse me and just make me smile. If you ever have the chance to travel to Japan, ensure you try drinks (both hot and cold) from one of the many, and sometimes obscurely located, vending machines.