The beauty of Japan’s lonely vending machines

Vending machines are a mainstay of Japanese culture. There are over 5.5 million in the country – one for every 23 people, the highest ratio in the world.

They’re ubiquitous and almost always outdoors, making them immediately stand out to anyone visiting Japan. They sell nearly everything – including some rather peculiar items. Most are stocked with hot and cold drinks. Some have funny English names, like “Pocari Sweat” or “Calpis Water.”

At night, rather than switching off, the machines come to life with vibrant colors and bright lights. Photographer Eiji Ohashi has spent years photographing them across Japan in the dead of the night, and now he has brought the images together in a book titled “Roadside Lights.”

For Ohashi, the machines once served as beacons: “I started this project nine years ago, when I noticed a shiny vending machine near my home as I was coming back from my night shift,” he said in an email interview. “At the time, I was living in a town in the north of Japan that would get hit by terrible blizzards during the winter months. I’d drive my car in (these) conditions and use the light of the vending machines to guide me.”

Urakawa Town, Hokkaido —

Photographer Eiji Ohashi has spent nine years capturing vending machines in remote and sparsely populated locations on his native island of Hokkaido and across Japan. His best shots have been brought together in a book titled "Roadside Lights."

Mt. Fuji —

"Ohashi was born in Wakkanai, the northernmost city in Japan. At the opposite end of the island, on the southern tip, sits Urakawa, a town with a population density of just 18 people per square kilometer: "There are vending machines in places that make one wonder if a customer will ever come."

Sapporo City, Hokkaido —

This photo was taken on the night of Dec. 24, 2016: "There was heavy snow in Sapporo that day for the first time in 60 years, and all transportation was stopped," said Ohashi.

Kutchan Town, Hokkaido —

This photo, which shows Mount Yotei in the background, is Ohashi's favorite from the collection: "It paints a very lonely image. There were two vending machines previously in this place, but profits were low and one was removed. I think in some ways I'm comparing modern-day people to vending machines. In our daily lives, we are also like vending machines that can withstand blizzards but ultimately go unrewarded."

Isahaya City, Nagasaki Prefecture —

This scene is from the city of Isahaya, near Nagasaki at the southern-most tip of Japan's mainland: "It's a scenery of late night road, where cars don't pass too often."

Sapporo City, Hokkaido —

Sapporo is the capital of Hokkaido and the fifth largest city in Japan, with a population of about 2 million and a density of 1,700 people per square kilometer. This particular vending machine sits next to a store that was first opened 100 years ago, juxtaposing the old and the new.

Urakawa Town, Hokkaido —

Because vending machines are so ubiquitous in Japan, they can often be found in unexpected places -- like beside shrines.

Kino Mino Town, Wakayama Prefecture —

A vending machine outside a liquor store in the small town of Mino, in central Japan.

Sapporo City, Hokkaido —

"Sapporo city center at midnight. Everyone is sleeping, but vending machines are working," said Ohashi.

Otaru City, Hokkaido —

Otaru is a port city northwest of Sapporo, and a popular tourist destination: "The machine is working while buried in the snow at the roadside of the national highway."

Urasa-cho, Hokkaido —

Unlike in most Western countries, the majority of Japan's vending machines are located outdoors.

Osaka City, Osaka-fu —

Vending machines with Osaka Castle in the background.

Ebetsu City, Hokkaido —

"I think that we're always thinking of ways to make life more convenient," Ohashi said. "I think that the vending machine is a symbol of that."

Japan's lonely vending machines

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Japanese culture has an appreciation for process. Signs explaining how to queue, how to get a haircut or how to use the toilet are posted everywhere. Guesswork is loathed.

As such, vending machines offer certainty. Their mechanism only allows one possible course of action. Like smartphones, they provide a shield from personal interactions. They are also ingrained in tradition: In rural areas, at the side of the road, it’s still possible to find unmanned wooden stalls where farmers place fruit, vegetables and other goods which can be purchased by leaving the correct amount of cash.

Perhaps this could only work in a country with a crime rate among the lowest in the world. Vending machines in Japan are rarely robbed or vandalized. In fact, they are well taken care of, meaning that they always work – which further contributes to customer satisfaction.

This photo, which shows Mount Yotei in the background, is Ohashi's favorite from the collection.

For Ohashi, this is one of the reasons behind their popularity.

“You can put them anywhere and they won’t be stolen or harmed,” he said. “Furthermore, they work even when they’re buried in snow as they are maintained regularly – something which shows how methodical Japanese people are.”