Foreigners Flock To Souvenir-Dispensing Vending Machines

TOKYO (Nikkei)--A business owner on Inokashira Street in Tokyo's bustling commercial district of Shibuya is using eye-catching orange vending machines to sell Japanese souvenirs to foreign tourists.

The owner of Wa-zakka Shibuya Maruara Watanabe, Arazou Watanabe, says, "I came up with the idea to sell souvenirs in a vending machine when I saw foreigners photographing the beverage vending machine in front of my store." An English teacher from America who was staring at the machine admitted with a laugh that "it's a unique way of selling things."

Each vending machine offers buyers product explanations in English and features about 60 types of souvenirs, including hand towels, Japanese-style hairpins and earrings.

Sales of 50,000 yen to 100,000 yen a month at the first machine, installed in September, were much better than expected, so Watanabe installed a second in December. Ninety percent of the people who use the machine are Westerners, and the No. 1 seller is origami earrings in the shape of cranes, which sell for 1,200 yen. Watanabe plans to add more items based upon Japanese traditions in the future.

(The Nikkei, March 5 morning edition)

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