Japan has a lot vending machines, but there’s only one like this.
In just about every Japanese office building, you’ll find a vending machine, serving as an oasis of refreshment and also a convenient excuse to get up and stretch your legs when you’ve been sitting at your desk for too long and need a change of scenery to restart your brain.
But at the offices of Hacomo, a company based in Kagawa Prefecture’s Higashi Kagawa City, there’s a vending machine that’s different from any other, because it’s made out of cardboard.
The full-size machine can be stocked with a dozen different kinds of drinks, and in the demonstration video we see a woman put a coin into the slot and hit the button for a can of coffee, which drops right into the drink retrieval tray. The camera then swings around to the backside where we see a man in a cap open up the machine’s back panel, revealing a network of heavy-duty rubber bands and intricate interlocking tabs as he replenishes the stock of beverages.
However, the Hacomo employees aren’t just using the machine, they put it together too. That’s because Hacomo is a cardboard craft kit manufacturer, and the cardboard vending machine is their latest creation. As the video shows, it’s fully functional as a drink-dispensing system, although it seems that it operates on the honor system, since you can press the buttons and get a drink without actually putting a coin in. Also, since it uses no electricity, it can’t really keep the drinks chilled or heated, which is why the buttons for the cans of coffee are marked “lukewarm.”
Unfortunately, Hacomo isn’t currently offering the full-scale vending machine kit for sale, but it does say that it’s essentially a multiplied and connected version of its smaller, three—drink design, which can be ordered on Amazon here for 990 yen (US$9.25).
Some of Hacomo’s other creative kits it’s recently shown off include cardboard crane games and gacha capsule toy machines…
…and also this adorable dragon cosplay set.
Though while we’re waiting with fingers crossed for the full-size vending machine to go on sale, we might have to order one of their cardboard play houses…
…since the one Mr. Sato built in the middle of the SoraNews24 office is starting to get kind of old.
Source: Twitter/@dancreator via IT Media
Insert image: Amazon/ブランド: ハコモ
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