How to Read a Japanese Vending Machine

Japan has vending machines (自動販売機じどうはんばいき, jidou hanbaiki, usually shortened to 自販機じはんき, jihanki) on street corners, station platforms and the odd mountain path. Buying from one takes no Japanese at all. Knowing what you're about to buy is another matter: from a metre away, a can of hot corn soup and a can of cold coffee look a lot alike.

These are the labels worth being able to read.

There's a 14-card deck of these words at the bottom. Go to the flashcards ↓

Red means hot, blue means cold

Ignore the can and look at the strip of colour underneath it. In the colder months plenty of machines sell hot and cold drinks side by side, sometimes the same tea in both.

The wavy line in あったか〜い drags the vowel out, the way you'd say it out loud. It's a casual spelling you won't find in a textbook, which uses 温あたたかい (atatakai) and 冷つめたい (tsumetai). Both are N5 words.

Paying

Both slots end in 口くち (kuchi, mouth), which on signs means an opening. It's the same 口くち as in 出口でぐち (exit) and 入口いりぐち (entrance). There's more on that in kanji on signs.

On the bottle

Bottled green tea is almost always unsweetened, which catches out people expecting iced tea. Canned coffee goes the other way, so check for ブラック or 無糖むとう if you want it without sugar.

When you've finished

The bins beside the machine are only for empties. They're marked 空あき缶かん (akikan, empty cans) and ペットボトル (plastic bottles). Public rubbish bins are hard to find in Japan, so expect to carry anything else around for a while.

Vocabulary

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Flashcards

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