Japan has about ten times as many vending machines as Europe and twice as many as the United States. In Japan, vending machines are considered capital. Because labor is in scarce supply, it is costly; a relationship that is well-known. Machines substitute, at least in certain contexts, for this lack of labor resources and presumably keep selling costs at a reasonable level.

In Japan, people can buy a great variety of consumer products through vending machines, not just non-perishables such as DVDs or cameras, but also perishable goods such as food and flowers. And not just the sandwiches that we know from the United States. But real Japanese food with rice and vegetables and meat. Japanese can also acquire clothing through vending machines

In my experience of using vending machines in Europe and in the United States, there is usually none. All one has is a phone number to call, but it never seemed to be worth the trouble for loosing a few dollars. However, because people spend more money on vending machines, they actually to contact the vendor and request their money back.

One of the greatest developments concerning vending machines across Europe over the last ten years or so has been the replacement of ticket clerks at railroad stops with vending machines. The first such devices were rather frustrating. It was, for example, difficult to find out what the appropriate fare was.

But new European machines have much-improved features: A touch screen lets the traveler choose the destination, gives a variety of fares depending on the applied discount cards, makes it possible to buy tickets for two or more traveler's within one transaction, and accepts a variety of bank cards, credit cards, bills, and coins. These are vending machines of the highest quality (no pounding was every required to get the tickets).

One of the issues that is rather surprising is that vending machines in Japan and in Europe are much less vandalized than in the United States. Some ascribe that to cultural differences concerning property. They say that Japanese and Europeans have more respect for other people's property than Americans do. Others argue that Japan and Europe have lower crime rates in general including vandalism. As with so many societal issues, it is probably a combination of reasons.