Stories
Field notes and guides on Japan's strangest vending machines.
Guide · Snacks
A Field Guide to Japanese Convenience-Store Snacks
The savory shelf, decoded. Umaibo, Jagariko, Kaki no Tane, and the bagged classics every konbini in Japan stocks, with what each one is and why it has lasted.
Guide · Ice cream
A Field Guide to Japanese Convenience-Store Ice Cream
Every konbini freezer in Japan runs the same lineup. Here is what to actually pull out of it. Gari-Gari Kun, Choco Monaka Jumbo, Pino, and the rest of the everyday greats, with what each one is.
Guide · Drinks
What I Actually Buy From Japanese Vending Machines
The weird machines get the photos. Here is what I drink every day. Pocari Sweat, hot BOSS, Oi Ocha with Ohtani on the bottle, and the boring-good staples a local rotates through.
Osaka · Field note
A 196-Year-Old Sake Brewery Is Now Selling Banana Smoothies From a Subway Gate
Inside the Nakanishi wicket at Honmachi Station, a Chiba brewery that has made sake since 1830 found a second use for its koji. It is the most quietly strange machine in Osaka right now.
Guide · Tokyo
The Best Snacks Hiding in Japanese Vending Machines
Japan will sell you almost anything from a machine. Here are the ones actually worth hunting down, from hot oden in a can to edible insects to wagyu, with exactly where to find each.