Cigarette Vending Machines
In Japan you can get just about anything from vending machines. I’ve seen machines for hot and cold drinks, phones, ice cream, alcohol (beer and sake), and even lettuce and carrots. It is also common to see machines that sell cigarettes next to machines that sell soft drinks. Great for convenience, bad for your health.
Even right below our apartment building, at the corner of a busy intersection, there are 2 soft-drink vending machines with one that sells tobacco just a half-step away. Perhaps the really interesting part concerning tobacco in Japan is that Japan Tobacco Inc. which controls over 60% of the market share here is 50% owned by the government. Don’t let the name fool you, this company even dabbles in real estate, manufacturers food, and is deep in pharmaceuticals.
Imagine that… the government, with its mandatory public run health care system, is deeply invested in Japan Tobacco that not only makes the poison but the antidote as well.
January 15th, 2010 at 1:34 pm
I remember when I was a kid I use to go down the block to a corner bar (I was probably 4 years old) and buy my mother cigarettes out of a vending machine. 50 cents a pack. Good Time. Those were simpler times (to me cause I was a kid and my brain hadn’t fully developed).
January 15th, 2010 at 7:13 pm
i’m sure the smokers that read this are thinking “50 cents a pack, yes the good times”