Loyal readers, you know I would not mislead you. We like marketing, and we like the absurd. If you like these combined, I’ve just found the GREATEST BLOG EVER. I don’t want to oversell it, so here we go. Translated, the name of the blog is:
I take a picture of the vending machine every day (or so). I’m very sorry.
Ryuuichi Terada Ikeda (ごめん！） of Sapporo, Hokkaido has been taking a picture of the same Coca-Cola vending machine nearly every day for over two years, and intensely documenting the changes. While I laughed off the premise immediately, I soon became hooked. Not only does he take daily photos, but he compares the photos to the previous year and draws John Madden-worthy diagrams explaining the daily changes. The addition of new products, stickers, and marketing gimmicks are all there in clear detail.
Every product is listed in its precise position (A4, B12, etc), along with its size and weight, and he even manages to keep up with the label changes from the beverage makers themselves. It’s incredible dedication and, for me, actually quite useful and insightful.
Thanks to Terada Ikeda-san, we can now gauge the general time when the vending machines add the “hot” function for wintertime beverages (after the second week of October). His blog notes also reveal a bit of nostalgia for 2005 when he laments that it now “has too many stickers”. When he’s busy or goes on a business trip, his wife takes the photos for him, so we never go long without an update. On his Flickr page he also shows his love for the Coke machines he finds on the road.
Japan is full of vending machines, and we all take them for granted. Even Mount Fuji has one up there (so I’ve heard), and you’d be hard-pressed to walk more than thirty feet before finding one in an urban area. Someone fills them up, moves pieces around, slaps on stickers, and adjusts the temperature, but all we do is pop in some money and move on. These machines evolve and change with the seasons, payment systems, and marketing from the beverage makers. They are just as much a store as any 7-11.
The sub-heading of Terada Ikeda-san’s blog is “If you don’t have any bread, isn’t it good to drink cola?”. I’m not quite sure…the Royal Milk Tea in B05 looks pretty good.
Found in the September print edition of Henshukaigi
Michael is CEO and Co-Founder of the 
This is very insightful. It like an Animal Planet documentary follow the life of a single animal.
But one sad thing is that this guy has no life.
no life? how can you say that? he is captivating thousands with his dedicated attempt at breathing life into the banal.
no life? how can you say that? he is captivating thousands with his dedicated attempt at breathing life into the banal.
Exactly. After ten minutes of going through his blog, you get a thorough understanding of the system and methods. He also mentions in an interview that he knows many people think it’s crazy, but knowing that makes him happy^^
A study in anything can give a person little hints of knowledge nobody has seen. I applaud anyone with that much drive and determination as well as a purpose, regardless of how insignificant it may seem to most.
Saying the man has no life is absurd on many levels.
1. obviously he has life.
2. He does something with it he enjoys and may even profit from.
3. He has a greater overall knowledge of the transitions of this machine than anyone who touched it before.
4. You saw this article and made a comment. We all know a bit about him, we all know nothing of you. Where is the proof you were on earth? A stack of whiney, ignorant comments?…. Think about it.
5. It is very likely that more than one company has used his data to note trends in both marketing and sales.
your email just bounced back. do you have another to send us above.? we have a couple of things to discuss wpd
His name is not “Terada” but Motomachi-san.
Can you please correct it? Thank you
Thank you for introducing my blog.
My name is IKEDA Ryuichi (written in Hensyu-Kaigi), and my handle-name is Motomachi.
But I don’t care about any name you call.
Thank you.
thedaily.com linked to this article. Very interesting subject. In documenting the subtle changes of the machine over a long period of time, Ikeda has uncovered a glimpse into another world: merchandising. It is someone’s job to figure out which soda goes where, when to introduce hot drinks, etc. All this behind-the-scenes stuff occurs without any notice by the average person. We just put our money in and out comes a beverage. Thanks you for pulling the curtain back, Ikeda. What else are we blind to?
thedailycolumn.com that is… sry
Good article:)
that was a great article >,<
Domo arigato, Ikeda-san! I never would have expected that there is a pattern to the way things go in a vending machine. Looks like fun.
What an interesting documentary! I don’t think I have come across an idea like this. I guess it is an interesting thing to do especially in Japan, where there are tons of vending machines that people mostly take for granted.