picture of the day

Drink up

29 Comments

A child buys a drink from a vending machine that stands beside another one selling beer, whiskey and sake, in Tokyo's Minami-Aoyama district, on Saturday.

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29 Comments
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I detest alcohol

Blashpheme!!! :)

8 ( +10 / -2 )

Yes. Stay free Japan. Don`t join the west in its over-parenting society. Stay part of Asia.

5 ( +7 / -2 )

The caption should read "A child takes a drink from a vending machine paid for and selected by someone MUCH taller."

4 ( +4 / -0 )

It is nevertheless uncommon to see alcohol and soft drinks vending machines side-by-side

A.N.O.

this is a fairly recent phenomenon, when I first washed up it was VERY common to see vending machines for beer & booze, ah the good ole days! BUT many of them would shut off around 2300hrs LOL!

Speed ahead to the present and combini's have exploded in number in comparison, so its still easy to by a beer pretty much anytime anywhere, civilized if you ask me!

4 ( +4 / -0 )

john-san - sorry, but your post is unclear on many points.

underage drinking doesn't equal illegal drinking???

Japan society doesn't have a problem with these machines??? (I've heard differently from my city heads)

the beer in these machines are not classed as alcoholic??? (all the beers in the photo contain alcohol)

ID is needed for spirits & sake ??? really - and not for wine or beer.
3 ( +3 / -0 )

Keep alcohol , whisky and vodka vending machines far away from the reach of children otherwise they will become hard addicts of alcohol when they grow up later in life.

No, educate children regarding alcohol and making proper choices. Ease of access or not, a kid will drink if they want.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

I hope this isn't gonna be used as propaganda to try and ban alcohol vending machines in Japan. When I first ever visited here and saw them I was so impressed and felt like an over excited kid at Christmas! I even took photos of them to show my friends and family back home lol. Alcohol vending machines are a good tourist attraction in Japan so please keep them!

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Smithinjapan:I stated underage drinking not illegal drinking. Of course I have seen Adults (18 to 21) drunk

Underage drinking is illegal, and here in Japan if you have seen folks under the age of 20 drinking then it IS illegal!

So you HAVE seen illegal drinking. It's that simple. The drinking age here is 20. Anything under that is illegal.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

Aim High (NOT) ?!

1 ( +1 / -0 )

If this machine were in the USA, it would be a waste of time to fill it. Just park the truck next to it.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

I have never seen a underage person drunk in Japan for the 6 years I have lived here.

I guess you have never been in a big izakaya on a weekend, then - especially ones near colleges and Uni's!

1 ( +4 / -3 )

To each his own, ha ha!

1 ( +1 / -0 )

This is legal in Japan, parents should make sure children do not consume alcohol.

It is nevertheless uncommon to see alcohol and soft drinks vending machines side-by-side.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Love countries like Japan, where anyone can buy alcohol.

0 ( +3 / -3 )

The kid is buying a soft drink-where is the news in this?

0 ( +4 / -4 )

John-san. Next time you see a machine with a 'card reader' try using it without ID. Most will just accept your money and give you alcohol. I do remember one in my old neighborhood had a button for 'I don't have my ID' push it, and there's your drink. I've bought beer (the real stuff) and regular size (9000ml) Shochu this way. I guess if kids, like yourself, have never tried then they might not know.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Hooray for beer vending machines. I'm utterly tired of the nanny state that is my home country, and applaud the fact you can buy alcohol 24/7 in Japan.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Btw, I don't mean I was an actual kid when I first came here! I was 29. ^^

0 ( +0 / -0 )

That same vending machine has been there for over 10 years. My apartment was right across the street.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Smithy: The red sign is above the sake. New vending interface has face recognition so the id is needed when certain product are selected by children or just refused. These have been around for about Tokyo,s subways for 12 months or so. Japan do not have a problem only nannies

0 ( +0 / -0 )

john-san - Tokyo's subways don't equal Japan. Why do people perpetuate the myth of Tokyo is Japan???

All the vending machines I've seen around my district are not as you described.

In my city there has been a problem with underage people, including school students accessing alcohol from vending machines. While not large scale, it's been a concern for officials etc.

Japan, like many other countries, does have a large alcohol problem. Research a little and you will know - if you don't already.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I have never seen a underage person drunk in Japan for the 6 years I have lived here. I detest alcohol the same way people detest Pot. But I have no problem with vending machine dispensing alcohol in this manner.

-2 ( +4 / -6 )

sensei: "It has a card reader (for driver's license?) so kids can't buy alcohol"

The card readers are optional, meaning if you have no card you can still use the machine. In other words, they are even less meaningful than clicking on a confirmation button that you're an adult on an adult website.

John-san: Then you're just not looking. I'll tell you what, next year at high school graduation time take a walk around any areas with izakaya and yakitori and guaranteed you'll find some with a bunch of bicycles outside. These machines are what cigarette machines were in North America in the 70s and 80s; outdated, and should be taken away since ANYONE can buy from them, and guaranteed underages due too.

-2 ( +4 / -6 )

requires you to push the "Yes, I am over 20" button to 'prove' you're an adult.

Technically speaking someone has to push it, and it does not necessarily have to be the person buying it. When I purchase alcohol or cigarettes at ANY convenience store the same thing pops up and typically the register folks press the panel as "customer service". Btw, most major supermarkets have the same thing now as well.

These machines should use the TASPO card like the cigarette vending machines have, save a lot of trouble.

I hope this isn't gonna be used as propaganda to try and ban alcohol vending machines in Japan.

Hardly, this is a JT picture, not the Yomuri Times. Have no fear, only the folks who wander here are looking at this!

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

Keep alcohol , whisky and vodka vending machines far away from the reach of children otherwise they will become hard addicts of alcohol when they grow up later in life.

-3 ( +1 / -4 )

It has a card reader (for driver's license?) so kids can't buy alcohol

-4 ( +3 / -7 )

John-san: "Smithinjapan:I stated underage drinking not illegal drinking."

No, here's what you said: "I have never seen a underage person drunk in Japan for the 6 years I have lived here."

"Of course I have seen Adults (18 to 21) drunk."

The drinking age, and the age of adulthood, in Japan is 20; ergo you have seen underage drinking (which is also "illegal drinking", by the way). So, you contradict yourself. If you want to argue that 18-year-olds should be treated as adults, in some respects I agree. But they are not, by law, so again if you've "of course seen 18-21 year-olds drunk", then those under 20 were underage.

"Japan society don,t have a problem with these machine."

They do. You just don't see it personally, or it does not register.

"Why the need to get rid of the vending machines."

Because, as has been stated, anyone can buy them; child or adult.

"beer in Japan is only class has beer if it has a certain % of hops in the making It. It came under a different tax scale. the beer in these machine are not class as alcoholic beer."

Sorry, bud, but anything with alcohol in it -- happoshu or not -- is alcoholic beer, and even NON-alcoholic beer in convenience stores (except 7-11) requires you to push the "Yes, I am over 20" button to 'prove' you're an adult. In this vending machine only two of the FIVE kinds of beer are happoshu, the rest are the regular Kirin, Asahi, and even premium Malts!

"I think the machine is new and has both card and ID required. The Id is needed for the spirits and sake."

Wrong. You can get it without an ID card.

"I can see a red sign stating something but I can,t read it."

The red sticker is where you get your change, and asks you not to forget it. The green sticker beside it relates to recycling.

"plus the interface is not like the usually ones also."

It means nothing. You can still get it if you are a child. There is this exact machine, with slightly different products, near my apartment and kids buy from it and drink in the park all the time. Again, if you think there is no problem with underage drinking you are wrong, and with 24-hour convenience stores selling alcohol 24-hours a day, which is bad enough, such machines are completely unnecessary and part of the problem.

-4 ( +0 / -4 )

Smithinjapan:I stated underage drinking not illegal drinking. Of course I have seen Adults (18 to 21) drunk. Japan society don,t have a problem with these machine. They have a problem with Tacbaco vending machine and so they are ID regulated. Why the need to get rid of the vending machines. beer in Japan is only class has beer if it has a certain % of hops in the making It. It came under a different tax scale. the beer in these machine are not class as alcoholic beer. I think the machine is new and has both card and ID required. The Id is needed for the spirits and sake. I can see a red sign stating something but I can,t read it. plus the interface is not like the usually ones also.

-6 ( +1 / -7 )

This is legal in Japan, parents should make sure children do not consume alcohol.

-12 ( +0 / -12 )

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