Japanese vending machines: the cutting edge of merchandising … and on the brink of irrelevance?

In an online list of the world's wackiest vending machines; compiled by Fodor's Travel, Japan got the nod for 3 out of 13 -- those selling beer, fresh eggs and bananas. The Fodor's list failed to impress this writer, who has seen machines with considerably wackier offerings. Some years ago, for instance, I spotted a machine that enabled people to automatically wash, rinse and dry their dogs. The appearance of original vending machines does warrant media coverage, which is certainly the case for Dohiemon, a new type of vending machine that went into service earlier this year. Preceding it with "do" and adding "mon" at the end creates a clever parody of Doraemon, the blue robot cat of cartoon fame.