Japan boasts an estimated 5.4 million vending machines - roughly one for every twenty people. Nearly all essentials, and many non-essentials, can be bought from a machine: pot noodles, drinks, films, batteries, shampoo, razors, CDs, flowers and so on. Some of them are getting pretty crafty, too. Some cold drinks machines, for example, are equipped with wireless modems so that the price can be adjusted according to the prevailing temperature, while Coca-Cola has been experimenting with "intelligent" machines that automatically raise their prices in hot weather.

Their prime attraction of vending machines is obviously convenience, but they also allow people in this highly self-conscious society to buy things surreptitiously - condoms, sex aids and alcohol are obvious examples; Japanese law prohibits the sale of alcohol to anyone under 20 years old. But since mid-2000, concern over rising levels of alcoholism and under-age drinking has led to a voluntary restriction by alcohol vendors. It's estimated that around seventy percent of machines have been taken out of action or restocked with soft drinks, but it remains to be seen how long such altruism lasts