Why These Old Japanese Vending Machines Are Genius

[@StrangeParts]

Go to brilliant.org/strangeparts to get a 30-day free trial and the first 200 people will get 20% off their annual subscription.

[@goal2004]

Why would you add "(Person speaking Japanese)" captions right on top of the captions you already included in the video? Are you just punishing those hard of hearing because they choose to read when you speak in English?

[@StrangeParts]

Yes, I'm definitely punishing people hard of hearing. In fact, I want to punish you so badly that I go out of my way to pay for a service to hand caption every one of my videos, to improve the quality versus KZbin's machine translation. No - of course I'm not trying to punish you. We did the japanese subtitles on our end, and then handed it off to the english captions service. Usually they do a great job, so I don't normally double check them. But this time, they captioned over the subtitles. I went in and fixed most of them by hand. If there are any others I missed, leave me some timestamps and I'll fix them.

[@goal2004]

@@StrangeParts Appreciate it!! Thank you!

[@Laurie_H]

Good video and very interesting, just too short. ☹

[@nsevv]

Do a video of the OLA factory in India please.

[@Lizlodude]

4:35 the mechanism moving the bowl back halfway through the pour so the curry stays in the middle is amazing and I love it. That's the kind of thing you only get from someone who really loves what they're doing.

[@mda187]

Noticed that too and was actually excited when I saw it. So cool the details they made in these machines.

[@sumdood6784]

I think it's more about being concerned with doing things as perfectly as possible.

[@MyYewTubeAccount]

@@sumdood6784 This is the Japanese way. I have spent a lot of time in Japan and the one thing I love the most is that they give 110% regardless of their job.

[@nikdog419]

I miss quality electro-mechanical engineering.

[@CricketEngland]

You wonder how much it costs to keep that food hot and how it tastes like if left in their for several days if not used, surely it cannot be hygienic by todays standards if it’s put in hot.

[@lemagreengreen]

The sheer effort to keep all those machines working and crucially stocked given the various requirements is unreal, those people must love what they do and apparently enough of the public do as well :) Great to see you back Scotty.

[@brianwest2775]

I wish that museum was in a shopping mall where more people could experience it. Does he get enough visitors to keep it afloat?

[@deleteman900]

It's seriously amazing

[@davidthacher1397]

Modern ones have little modems inside which talk to a server on the internet. They are capable of reporting their sales data to the individual product. This would allow people to restock them more efficiently. The server could also check dates if the inventory system was implemented and used correctly. If you wanted to run a vending machine empire this kind of thing would be very important. Most soda can machines are designed to simple. A self test system would also be used. Logs could be submitted to the server for later access. This allows centralization of a large number of machines. This would cut down the amount of time servicing them and excess inventory, which is important as the margins on this business. The only way to make a large amount of profit is with high volume. Time is money here. Lot of people don't understand much it seems. Fricking abused AI/Web/Cloud/etc.

[@SheeplessNW6]

The first time I saw this collection of machines was in a September 2021 video by the bike vlogger Minami Chigasaki (茅ケ崎みなみ). But she was disappointed, because when she visited almost all the machines were sold out or not working. So yes, it's a constant struggle.

[@sammiller6631]

@@brianwest2775 Why does it have to be in a shopping mall? Shopping malls are dying due to Amazon and online shopping. His tire business provides enough visitors to the vending machines.

[@asxphxss]

The microwave machine was amazing, the fact it uses an off the shelf microwave 😂 I definitely want to visit

[@tomsixsix]

I absolutely lost it when it tilted the microwave to get the popcorn out. So bloody clever and yet so oddly over-engineered!

[@MrFujinko]

​@@tomsixsix using a robotic arm to grab it would be over engineering, tilting is genius

[@Stan99]

Yeah i really was giggling at that one, I absolutely love this stuff. If it works, it works right lmao

[@asxphxss]

The fact even the buttons are also just engaged with a small solenoid instead of direct wiring is icing on the cake 😂

[@b.i.g.g.u.s]

@@asxphxss The solenoid approach doesn't invalidate the warranty XD

[@TheDarkPreacher65]

So good to see you travelling again, Scotty! Thank you for bringing us with you!

[@5skdm]

He recently participated in this show called jetlag: the game, the newest season is from japan. The filming of this season started a little over 1 month ago, so i think this video is part of the same trip!

[@c4pt1n54no]

Mechanical logic has always been more interesting than digital logic to me. The care they take to keep them functional is amazing.

[@PflanzenChirurg]

As a software engineer i can say mechanical logic has alot more freedom based soley on the constrain of size an powerefficiency. The beauty of mechanical logic is that you can see it without the requirement of being able to read and comprehend code and cpu architecture, its more accessive visualy

[@YangSunWoo]

As another software engineer, I agree. I wish I could open up my computer and show people the mechanism inside of my apps in a visual way.

[@joeytumbleson9723]

Scotty, after everything that's happened including your health scare I'm so happy to see you posting videos! I absolutely love your content, KZbin would never be the same without you! ❤😊🎉

[@petershillito]

I've seen a lot of youtubers go to this place, but this is the first time I've seen the insides of them and how they work. I'm especially impressed by the curry one keeping both the rice and the pouches of curry warm and the pouch gets cut in the machine, and then they say it doesn't use a microwave **because it's from before microwaves**. Awesome video, thanks a lot.

[@nimi2470]

It was an amazing surprise to see you on Jetlag the game this season. Glad to see you took the opportunity to visit this amazing place while in Japan.

[@shubus]

Yesterday I saw John's video. And what a remarkable place it is. Japan has vending machines everywhere, but this old classic ones are the most fun and glad to see them being presered and used. Hope you are having fun in Japan.

[@SimonKorzun]

I love all Strange Parts content but gosh did I miss this going to places and seeing things content a whole heck of a lot.

[@availablity3173]

Finally you are back This time in Japan😊 Always loved your videos!!

[@billyhatcher643]

i havent seen him in a while ether does he still live in china cause i dont know if he ever moved out of it or not

[@availablity3173]

Yeah😊

[@chrislaws4785]

This is honestly amazing. It would be so much easier and probably cheaper for those people to just get rid of all the machines and just have a window for people to order stuff from, but it is AWESOME that they take the time to preserve these old machines and allow people to experience them in modern day.

[@elsombero1747]

I was multiple times in Japan and those vending machines are just my favorite thing in Japan. I needed to repair my power supply, so I walked to a nearby store and bought a capacitor from a vending machine. Same for my Zenit Fotosniper camera with the camera films. In the area where I mostly travel to but maybe it's also in Tokyo, there are vending machines for batteries, like the AA ones, 9v cylinder one for older car fobs or those e-bike tuning kits or even some coin cell ones in all sizes and shapes. My favorite one was somewhere in Tokyo, where I ordered a beacon pizza without even needing a translator app. The pizza tasted better than those grocery store frozen pizzas in Germany and Spain. A solid 9.5/10

[@yakitatefreak]

I remembered seeing AkiDearest posting a video about this exact place near a tire shop about a year ago. It looks rather fascinating to see all sorts of retro machines come to life. This spot seems like a great place to check out in Kanagawa.

[@thesledgehammerblog]

It seems like all of the Japanese travel vloggers end up here eventually. I can see why.

[@jjjacer]

ericsurf6 also did it recently.

[@dionelr]

That’s pretty cool! Japanese engineering always fascinated me. And how many revisions of those machines did it take to get the curry poured just right, or the popcorn not make a mess? Fun fact: Rube Goldberg machines are called Pythagoras Switches in Japanese.

[@macdjord]

... so that's why the TV show that came up with the Algorithm March is called 'Pythagoras Switch'.

[@TheTsunamijuan]

Awesome to see you adding some new content. Hope that the workload was manageable for you .

[@sgajate]

What a great collab video!! I'm a long time follower of both channels and to see you guys together checking out this awesome machines was mindblowing! Keep up the good work and as always wish you guys all the best! Hugs from Argentina!

[@IanTheWoodchuck]

I AM LOVING the colab with you and John! I'm already subbed to you both separately, so seeing you guys get together is a riot! I've seen this Vending Park on many other channels, and while they demo buying stuff from the machines, almost NOBODY actually digs into the innards and that's what I REALLY want to see, especially for these mechanical marvels! Thanks so much!

[@NishankBansal]

When a youtube notification brings smile.

[@tysiscoe]

Exactly! He’s awesome

[@Thirdleg4sale]

I had the same reaction! 😊

[@hookedonlurefishing]

He's the best

[@Roads_of_Europe]

KZbin is a bit messed up with notifications. A few days ago I checked this channel, seeing nothing in 5 months. Then I just saw this in my normal browsing feed. I've noticed I get notifications sometimes 2 or 3 hours later or even days later. Either way, I smiled to see it...

[@BlasterVice264572]

Yes sirrr!!!

[@mastersingleton]

Thanks for a great collab with John aka Only in Japan.

[@schmiddy8433]

I'm fascinated to know the operation of supplying these foods still, I can't imagine most of these companies still make the same dishes to supply these machines so they would need to reverse-engineer the exact specifications for everything needed to operate it and have a kitchen operation on hand to make a lot of it, fascinating!

[@StrangeParts]

Yeah - I'm curious about that too. At least some of the food is cooked fresh everyday by the owner and his wife!

[@itsmilan4069]

I've been watching this machines for years from other youtubers but this was the first time I got to watch the inside in so detail Thank you ❤

[@StucklnAWell]

Man your content is very possibly my favorite on all of youtube. Its interesting, informative, curious, and humorous all simultaneously. I hope you keep creating content for a long time.

[@Hephera]

yesss! more strange tech stuff from asia! thats what i subbed for! I get that its a lot harder with you living in the US now but your unique blend of "travel vlog" and "tech video" is what made your channel so unique and I hope you keep it up

[@jjh5374]

Fascinating video, love seeing how these old time machines work. Best part of the video though is that it truly feels like one of Scotty's old videos, where he is unaffected by his past medical issues. I'm so happy to see that you're doing well and making videos that you love.

[@aristond]

i knew that the cover used to preserve history for vending machine, but looks on how it inside works really interest me. seeing how it works, the flow, process, it's still amaze me. what a lucky chance to able look and filming how the machine works.

[@abhinav.pandey19]

Two of my favorite KZbinrs in a single crossover episode. Great to have you back, Scotty! Bonus Pts. for the Nixies.

[@Crafty266]

Thank you for showing us more in-depth of the vending machines. Some channels had this place already but you showed it the best.

[@randalltufts3321]

So happy to see you smiling like you always have. Looks like your feeling much better. Thats awesome. Loved the machines. They are always amazing

[@onlylikenerd]

I love John. I used to watch Only in Japan every single night. Pleasant surprise seeing him here

[@steve_p]

Awesome to see you being well and uploading cool tech vids again!!

[@Sassenhaim]

Always found this place amazing , but to see the guts of the operation. Thank you, arrigato 👏

[@cogspace]

This place is so cool! Kinda reminds me of Musée Méchanique in San Francisco, with all those lovingly preserved mechanical marvels kept in working order for visitors to actually interact with. Things aren't really being preserved in a certain sense if they aren't still usable as they were intended to be used, but that can be really difficult to achieve. Keeping all these machines working and even making rice and curry every day to keep a machine stocked is next-level dedication to that ethos. I love it!

[@johnsimon8457]

7:55 Talking americanland popcorn machine is just one of those “lol wacky Japan” kind of things that’s now Showa era retro. I guess they have a magnetic tape with the voice and music on it. Little wild how they have to tip the whole heavy microwave to get the popcorn out but gravity is reliable

[@thaphreak]

@DancingBacons did a video or two on this place, I'm REALLY excited to see Scotty here looking at the mechanical side of these, that's what fascinates me the most. NGL this place is on my bucketlist!

[@michaelphilippa5640]

You know its going to be a good day when there's a Strange Parts video to watch. I forgot how much your videos instantly put a smile on my face, so good to see you back doing what you love

[@Ar7ific1al]

I've seen this place in so many videos, and I always love seeing it. Absolutely one of my top picks for places I'd like to visit in Japan if I ever had the opportunity to go there.

[@StrangeParts]

I think they’re fortunes, from a fortune vending machine. We probably should have addressed that one of the two videos 😂

[@lactobacillusprime]

Ah was wondering about this, I also watch Only In Japan's videos and it's cool to see your side of the experience. It's good to see you outputting content. Hope all is well and thanks for sharing this experience. Are there things you wouldn't be able to get from a vending machine in Japan? Possible a small thermonuclear reactor wouldn't be possible, or a car but other than those I think just about everything else is obtainable through the magnificent thing we know as ' the Vending Machine ' :)

[@VulpisFoxfire]

...I seem to remember a car vending machine, or something like it being done as a promotional gimmick at one point...

[@TheToxicMinecraftian]

I love John Daub from Only in Japan. Crazy collab, I love it

[@cameronempey8350]

It made me so happy to see John and you doing a video together :) I love Japan and the vending machines it would be way better than Disney for me! ha

[@Pay-No-Mind]

I'm so happy and excited to see you ALSO happy and excited, travelling again and meeting new and interesting people doing cool and interesting things, happy to have you back Scotty and glad you're feeling back to your old self, stay safe! All the best from the UK

[@matt7403]

I lived in Japan in the 80s. Most of those machines seem very familiar. So cool to see inside them!

[@nathansvlog]

I'm fascinated by Japan, but the 80s in particular must've been such an exciting decade to be there!

[@matt7403]

@@nathansvlog yes, it was incredible! Japan was on top of the world!

[@davariz]

I can't believe it, I've been studying these vending machines for a few months and especially I've always been really curious about how some of these old machines worked. Congratulations to the channel because I've been following you since 2019

[@crucchino]

Scotty so nice to see you met John! Awesome video!

[@KiraSlith]

The amount of effort put into making these machines as technically simple as possible, yet reliable and effective, is amazing.

[@mf12811]

These are really cool - never seen anything like them before! Glad to see you're doing better Scott :)

[@Pwnulolumad]

The way the vending machine owner smiles and enjoys showing off his collection is so wholesome

[@emieldevries7923]

I definitely thought this would have something to do with Jet Lag: The Game

[@TheBaldr]

He probably filmed it before or after Jet Lag filming while he was already in Japan.

[@CptFitzgerald]

Sent over by John (almost a decade viewer of his), and also a pinhead. Bally was actually aquired by Williams, and then Williams was aquired by Stern. Jersey Jack and Stern are the big two companies left, but the independent manufacturers have been popping up and thriving (notably the biggest one being Spooky, who did an Ultraman table!). Also, Stern's last year release of Godzilla has an option at the beginning to change the commentator/call-outs voice to Japanese by immediately pressing the left flipper button!

[@TravisStamper]

Long time no see Scotty. Glad all is well. Thanks for the video

[@lil_lizzy]

PLEASE KEEP MAKING VIDEOS. I missed you so much through cov and your health. Wishing you the best!

[@arroganteyeballyt9974]

I love this man I missed him 😞 but here he is and he looks great :)

[@UnitedSpotlight]

Great to see you back litrally thought about this channel last night and wondered how you was doing so went back and watched your update so good to see your feeling much better and back making videos

[@allyoucanseef9033]

John Daub is the man! Love this team work. John knows tons about Japan, and with the tech mind of Strange Parts the opportunities are endless.

[@emielleclercq]

Can't wait for the jetlag the game season! Anything you can leak?

[@TheBaldr]

Adam and Ben win... oh wait that almost any season. jk.

[@BobIoNix]

Whoa! This brings back memories of me trying to get food while working in barren desolate locations. Often the choices would be limited to a working or non working small vending machine in a corner.

[@mildlydispleased3221]

Oh my god, it's the guy from Jetlag.

[@BattleMega]

This guy is so excited to explain the vending machines! I love that someone is so interested in keeping a lot of these machines working even after all these years.

[@JeroenReumkens]

I missed these videos soooooo much! Really happy to watch them!

[@SetsuneW]

This was such a great video! The shared joy of seeing all these vending machines from decades ago doing things that are impressive and entertaining today.

[@jamsjars9505]

John can't help but talk in his usual MC or host voice. Love it. I've always wanted to see these japanese vending machines in more detail after seeing them.

[@kevinmcewen1760]

So glad to see you back out there and showing us some awesome stuff.

[@ISonOfSam]

This is what KZbin was made for, bring you stuff you didn’t know you wanted. Love it, keep up the AWESOME content.

[@dulay28]

I really love this video. John is one of my favorite youtube, I always wanted to go to Japan because of him. And you Scotty I admire your way of thinking and ideas.

[@Bob3519]

This is so cool. I've heard about Japanese vending machines, it's nice to see all of these.

[@FalloutUgglan]

So cool! I absolutely LOVE old tech like this. It's so tactile and real. Thanks for sharing this!

[@KrisDouglas]

I've seen a few videos about this place, but this video really, really hits the spot. Scotty, you are on SOLID form.

[@Techfanatic73]

Bro!!!!!!! You have no idea how happy it makes me to see more videos from you. Amazeballs. So glad you are getting better

[@InterFelix]

5:55 Scottie is almost on point there - Nixie tubes are made today, by a lovely chap from Czechia named Dalibor Farny. He has a great KZbin channel documenting his journey from starting to make simple, small Nixie tubes in a small shop again to his current operation with multiple models of tubes and his own Nixie tube clock for example.

[@Robonator14]

Super glad to see you around again. Was already wondering when the next video will come :D

[@exitpath2]

I’ve been enjoying you on Jet Lagged! Haven’t watched you since the custom iPhone days. Great to see you still making awesome videos!

[@JohanBenschop]

Amazing to see hows these machines work! As a student we did a project where we modified a coffee vending machine to become touchless by using a Microsoft Kinect. To interface with the machine, we thought we could use the serial port on it, but that wasn't connected for some reason, so we soldered some wires to the buttons connected to an Arduino-powered relay board. Worked wonderfully.

[@peepopalaber]

Nice cooperation with John! Good to see.

[@DrakeLaFata]

John's face popping up on the screen gave me a huge surprise being subscribed to both channels.

[@ALI-TECH]

Really refreshing to see you in good condition and back on track!

[@DaPigMasta]

Two of my favorite people opening up some of my favorite devices. Doesn't get much better than this.

[@Siriusly_Sirius]

A collaboration that I never expected! Love it!

[@YZJY]

Thanks for the happy memories revisited.... I remember seeing some of those machines when i lived in Tokyo 86-94.. happy days were those.

[@DecibelAlex]

these are super cool. using a vending machine for the first time back in the days must have felt unbelievable. thanks for the tour

[@reddcube]

Unique museums are always amazing. Someone has a passion and they are openly sharing that hobby/story

[@ninjamaster3453]

This needs to be longer! So interesting to see how these did this. How about the culture and how people of the time used and relied on these for meals?

[@isamuominae]

Several KZbinrs made videos about this "parking lot" over past years, is up to you search them.

[@jayce8001]

Duuuude! Aw man! Love love love this! Welcome to one of my favorite things. I absolutely love vending machine mechanics.

[@benpc1794]

I've seen this vending machine park on so many different channels, but this is amazing getting to see the internal workings!

[@mda187]

This was such a cool video. You can almost recreate in your mind the thought processes some of the engineers who designed these machines had to make decades ago when you watch them function. And then, all the clever things they did to fix any problems they might have encountered.

[@kawings]

The Japanese had a habit of taking care their machines in tip top condition like new even though these machine reaches the age 40+ . The level of cleanliness with fresh new coat of paint plus each button functionality still works well just like it arrive from the factory since yesterday.

[@kuyache2]

The collab we never knew we wanted ^_^ more adventures to you scotty and john daub of Only in Japan JD + GO

[@P747]

Scotty, the Nixie tubes are being made again. Dalibor Farny in the Czech Republic makes them. They also make really beautiful clocks!

[@shubhambajaj]

Liked the video before even watching it. Good to have to back Scotty! I am excited!!

[@HAL_NOVEMILA]

06:27 ...M8, how could you casually ignore a freaking ARM WRESTLING ARCADE?! It literally is the most interesting machine that appeared in this video!

[@TimHoekstra]

This is amazing! These machines are fascinating artifacts from a bygone era. Happy to see somebody is still keeping them in operation.

[@timstein]

I'm so happy to see more of your videos!!! While I was in the US Navy We would go to Yokuska Naval Base, and on the way back from a night of drinking We would go to a vending machine for some Hot Coffee in a can. Best coffee I have ever had.

[@Flyingdinosaur69]

Im so glad someone finally opened some of these up. Every Japanese vending machine video I see I just wanted to see what's going on inside

[@HelipOfficial]

Mechanical logic always amazes me no matter how simple or complex it is. The best innovation of the last century, ever.

[@Artista_Frustrado]

the engineering that goes into vending machines, specially JP ones is always mind blowing

[@sumdood6784]

I love seeing people who are passionate about keeping cool historic artifacts functional and accessible.

[@David..]

My KZbin algorithm has decided to show all sorts of amazing old Japanese stuff that is brilliantly made and I’m not complaining.

[@davidt3563]

I love building these in my head and then seeing how they are actually made and function. It's just too cool!

[@justinwilliams7148]

That rice and curry machine blows my mind. All the vending machines here have items so old you wonder if they've been touched in years but that one looked like it would have to have customers all the time for the rice to be fresh.

[@InsidetheCasino]

The more I watch videos about Japan, the more I want to go. Such a wonderful culture and interesting place in the world.