Vending Machines

The Japanese name of these distributors is Jidohanbaiki: jido "automatic" Hanbit "sale" ki "machine. You can even specify what sells the machine, such as a "no tabaco jidohanbaiki" sells cigarettes.

Two categories of distributors are everywhere: those containing soft drinks such as iced tea, soda, coffee, fruit juices and vitamin drink for 100 or 150 yen and those containing cigarettes.

Japan is the country where the concentration of veding machine is the highest in the world. They are found everywhere in the archipelago, whether in cities, villages or even in the countryside. In Tokyo an incredible number of machines selling drinks and cigarettes are proliferating in the city, even in its less frequented corners where they illuminate the night of their white light. It is not uncommon to see 4, 5 see more aligned side by side against a wall and find others to ten meters.

why s huge success ?
They are very convenient for Japanese who do not have time to queue in a supermarket or gender Family Market Seven / Eleven. Besides these machines does not really compete as often store distributors to place beside his door, they are considered more as a supplement than a nuisance. Their low prices and their omnipresence are undeniably the major assets of their success.

There is a distributor for 23 Japanese from the Japan Vending Machine Manufacturers Association so nearly 6 million machines for the archipelago.

Energy drinks

Energy drinks are soft drinks advertised to provide more energy than a typical drink

Japan is the leader in the consumption of sports and energy drinks.

It stands at about 15 liters per year per person. The US consume only a half of this number.

Japan’s predominance in this sector is quite surprising, given the fact that functional drinks have long been considered as mainstream products.

For the Japanese, these products are thought of in the same way as regular soft drinks and juices, and many of them don’t carry a price premium either, which boosts their sales.

The Japanese sports drink market (which 60% of its products is sold in vending machines) has been dominated by Otsuka’s Pocari Sweat and now, the leader is Coca-Cola Aquarius.

The other big giants are Suntory’s Dakara, Dydo’s Miu, Kirin’s speed and recently Samurai Brands.

The other big consumers are Asian countries and we can see a potential growth in the coming years in Middle East and North Africa.

In Western Countries, such as France, we don’t consume a lot of energy drinks. The leaders are Burn, Dark Dog and recently (with the legal authorization) Red bull

Convenience Stores in Japan

More than 40 000 convenience stores (Kombini in Japanese) can be found in Japan.
There is a strong competition between the 3 major operators : Seven Eleven, Lawson and Family Mart.
Most of them are open 24 hours a day and 7 days a week.

Goods offered :
You can find whatever you want in a kombini: food, snacks, obento, ramen, micro wave meals, drinks, coffee, soda, juices, sport drinks... and also alcoholic beverages (beer, wine, alcohols).
The selection changes frequently because of the seasons.
Basic goods such as body care products, batteries, blank CDs, newspapers, umbrellas and comics are also available.
In the stores outside the city center, you can fine toilets.
Services offered:
ATMs are available in all the convenient stores (but foreign cards are available only at 7-Eleven).
You can also find a copier:fax, a ticket reservation machine (but it is provided in Japanese only), digital camera print (no in all the komninis and not very easy to use) and other services such as bill payment (useful for refilling our japanese cell-phone!) and delivery service.

List of Convenience store in Japan :
Seven Eleven, Lawson, Family Mart, Circle K Sunkus, Daliy Yamazaki, Mini stop, Am Pm, Coco Store, Seico Mart.

Convenience store is an international concept, very famous in North America and almost in Asia.

In France we don't have any of them; it is a pity because it is very useful. Neither they have in any country of Europe, even if some "corner shops" have opened in England.

Yakult

Yakult is a Japaneese Probiotic milk, made with the protein L-casei.

The begining :

The company that produces this drink is Yakult Honsha, created by Minoru Shirota, graduated from the Medial School of Kyoto.
He started to produce his drink in 1935, in a way to create a great taste of yogurt (yogurt = yakult...)

After being sold all over Japan and Asian countries, it was introduced in Western Countries first in Brazil, in 1966. Today it is sold everywhere.

The product :
The ingredients of the little bottle are : sugar, skim milk powder, dextrose, natural flavours, L-Casei, water.
Japaneese love this drink. It is viewed as a medicine but in the way to keep the good taste of a yogurt. While drinking Yakult, they enjoy the taste while keeping a good health.
Moreover, its small size encourages the consumer to take it every day, as a medicine ; it is quick to drink, small (you can put it in your bag if you don't have time to take it).

We can find Yakult in vending machine (in some subway stations we can find Yakult Vending machine) at a price of 80 Yens each small bottle (standard size)





Yakult in other countries :
It is drunk in most countries in the world, but sizes and tastes change.
In fact, in Australia, Europe and Indonesia, 65ml are the bottle you can find. In America and Philippines, it is 80ml.
In Singapore and Taiwan, 100ml. Singapore is the only country where you can find orange, apple and grape taste.

In France, Yakult is less consumed because of Actimel by Danone. People drink more Actimel than Yakult, only because of the advertising and the selling (you can find more Actimel than Yakult)

First item : Purikura In Japan

Purikura is the abbreviation of "Purinto Kurabu", Print club in English. The idea is to make some small pictures into a cabin and then, to customize it.

How does it work ?
A purikura machin is bigger than a classic photoscrew. You can move inside, you take various shoots and at the end you choose your favorite.
Then you go outside of the cabin and there is the most amazing thing ! Customization !
You can put whatever you want : stars, diamonds, many colors, hats, accessories, change face's color, etc...
You can choose the size of the picture.


You can find in Japan many Purikura, most of them in rooms of arch or at the top af big department stores. Most of them are classic, but you can find someones that rent Cos Play, wigs, or even removable sets, such as Hello Kitty at the back. You can change the lights.



Why is Purikura so famous in Japan ?
Young girls love to take these kind of small pixes. One of their favorite game, as teenagers, is to take at least one picture on each purikura they can find ! That is why they often have "Purikura Books" and they exchange them with their friends.
Purikura used to be a phenomenon for girls but now we can see that it is also for boys. We can say that purikuras are a real hobby for teenagers; indeed, for having used them, it is very funny, we joke a lot and it can make great memories for a day or a good time with friends.



Purikura over the world ?
Purikura is a real phenomenon in Japan and Taiwan also. But it is not very popular in Europe (even if we can find them a little more and more). It is developping in Asia, in countries such à Hong Kong and China.