Photo of the Day – A High School Kids Dream – Vending Machine Beer – Kyoto, Japan

Frequently while traveling we see something and can’t help ourselves from laughing when thinking about the scene in the context of where we come from. Things that are in perfect balance where you are presently at would almost certainly not work back at home.

One of the best examples of this I can think of is found in Japan. The Japanese have very liberal alcohol sales and consumption laws, going as far as to allow alcohol to be sold in normal vending machines on the street. These are not super high tech machines that scan your ID or take pictures of your face to determine your age. Simply pop in a few coins, select your alcohol of choice and a can pops out of the machine for your immediate consumption. Voila!

Will and I found this machine while traveling through Kyoto back in 2010. Of course we couldn’t resist and each picked up a Chu-Hi (3 from the left on the bottom row) to accompany us on our walk through the historic streets of Kyoto.

Any thoughts on how these would fare on the streets in America?