- This is one of the best
things I've ever seen. This is so Jerry rigged
and yet so perfect. How does a decades old vintage retro Japanese coffee vending machine work? Today we're at a retro
vending machine museum, at a tire yard outside of Tokyo, and I'm here with John from
the channel Only in Japan. And you were headed out here anyway, to check it out.
- I was headed out here. I'm glad you you join me.
- And said, "Hey, do you wanna come along?" And I absolutely do, I'm
all into vending machines, and I think we're gonna get to check out the insides of some. (fun upbeat music) This is awesome, these are all
from kind of different eras. What's really interesting
is that there are machines that sell things we would never expect to find in a vending
machine, like hot meals. This one has like hot noodles, and dumplings, and things like that. I can only imagine how much work it is to keep these machines running. These are not still being made. So Saito-san here has been
working on this machine ever since we got here. It looks like he's been
fixing the cup dispenser and he just showed us a little switch that looks like it's worn out,
I think he probably replaced. Probably a limit switch for indicating when a cup is dropped down or when it's outta cups
or something like that. He's putting it back together
getting the covers back on and buttoning up the machine. So I wanna ask him here
how the machine works. (vending machine whirs) (ice falling) - [John] You can see
here it says coffee, tea. And the milk is over here on the side. Yeah, it's dried powder.
- Dried powder. - [John] So it goes into there, it's mixed and then dumped into the cup. - And then where is the ice stored? Oh wow. - [Scotty] Okay. It's constantly rotating.
- Wow. - To keep it from freezing
up as a solid block, that's amazing and it must
be making it at the bottom and pushing it up. How old is this machine? - So like 1980. This is amazing, and
it makes decent coffee. So he's loading up the machine now in one of these like hot food machines and it seems like they're
being stored cold. - [John] Oh. Yeah, you can't see it, but it's inside the bottom.
- So it drops them down. - Into the microwave.
- Into the microwave and then spits it out.
- That's cool. - Hamburgers, toast, drinks, donuts, noodles, milkshake, popcorn, pot stickers, orange juice. Oh my god, it goes on. This just keeps going, this is crazy. Toys, ooh I like the conveyor belts. Ice cream, candy apples. Are these actually mystery boxes here? They're a thousand each, which is like a little less than 10 bucks. I don't know what they are. Whoa, this is a Kodak film vending machine with 35 millimeter film on
rolls and disposable cameras. That's pretty cool. - [John] This one is
the only one in Japan. - [Scotty] Oh wow. - [Scotty] Wow! - Oh, it's hot. It's stored hot. - Oh wow. That's wild. - [John] Wow. (bright Japanese music) (bright Japanese music continues) - Who cooks the rice? - Wow. - Just cook it in a rice cooker? - Yeah, and then keep it heated up here. - That's so much work.
- Wow. - That's amazing. - Yeah, so this vending machine, the curry rice vending machine
doesn't use any microwaves because this machine was made before the microwave era.
- Oh! I was looking at these
machines and thinking, oh this is all microwave. Oh, it's not gonna be
very interesting inside, but no, that's a cool-
- Made the old fashioned way. Heat it up, cut it open,
put it on, there you go. - So cool. Let me get some noodles over here. Oh my god! Okay. This is really cool. Well, these are Nixie
tubes, which were displays, they're essentially like vacuum tubes that were used for numerical displays prior to the invention of
like segmented LED displays. They're essentially a
glowing wire in a vacuum tube and they're really rare now. To replace these you'd
have to go hunt around on the used market somewhere. (vending machine dings)
Oh my god! Okay. Oh, and there's, there's
a topping in here. Are these old Pachinko machines? - [John] Just old video game machines. Oh, you're supposed to
get it into there, right? - Oh, almost. Oh, and then I think
you win a little candy if you successfully get
it in the right hole. (machines whirring) Oh, this is a Bally machine from Chicago. Just one of the four or five remaining pinball machine companies. Look at this bicycle racing machine. Oh, that's sketchy, but
also amazing, look at this. Cycling Race 300 meters. And then this one I'm quite curious about. This one is a magnet crane. (magnet crane beeping) (lighthearted music) Oh, that's so satisfying. (lively upbeat music) (lively upbeat music continues) Oh, look at this! Microwave popcorn. Is this literally an
off the shelf microwave? - Yes.
- That's just bolted in here. - Yes. (coin drops)
(machine whirs) (button dings) (coin drops) (exciting music) (conveyor belt whirs) - We can hear the popcorn
popping inside the microwave. Oh, it smells really good too. (microwave dings) - [John] We missed catching that one. (group laughing)
It's right on the ground. It's small, it's really hot.
- It's like smaller than. There we go.
- Ooh. (popcorn crunches) - Yep, it's popcorn. - I don't believe you.
- Just like microwave popcorn. - I don't believe you. (popcorn crunches) Yeah it's popcorn. (laughs) - Yeah, it tastes really good. This must be the warehouse
where they keep all the drinks and things to fill the vending machine. Yeah, sodas and Cup O' Noodles, and all sorts of stuff in there. It's right across from
the vending machines. Well what do you think, John? - If you really want my opinion this is better than Disneyland. - This, I am speechless. I'm literally speechless. This is so cool. Thank you so much for bringing me here. This is been an absolute treat. Saito, thank you so much. You're clearly a kindred
spirit with Strange Parts and myself and other Strange Parts fans. This is an amazing thing you've created and I hope you keep it up
for a long time to come. Thank you for having us. Go check out John's video. We're gonna try out some of this food, and you're gonna talk
more about the history of some of the things we're
finding in these machines, these machines themselves. I'll put a link down to
your video down below. Go check out his channel and
subscribe, Only in Japan. - Only in Japan, I take you
all around the corners of Japan showing you the history,
the culture, the technology. Through those stories, I think
you get a better immersion in this country that is just so amazing. Much more diverse than people think. - It's fascinating. Please go subscribe. He
makes amazing videos. (exciting music) Have you ever dreamed of building a wild Rube Goldberg machine like that Microwave popcorn one? I know I have ever since I was a kid. But to build something like this, it's not enough to have just
textbook technical knowledge, or even the creativity to
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Parts and stay tuned for a huge iPhone project I got on the way. I'll see you again soon.
