Popular butter cookies can now be found in a vending machine, so we try some!

Yoku Moku is a famous Tokyo-based confectionary brand, and one of their most popular sweets are their Cigare cookies — cigar shaped treats.

▼ The Cigares come in tins and are individually wrapped

The cookies are known for their light, buttery taste with a crispy texture, and their popularity extends internationally, too. Here in Japan, Yoku Moku can be found at select department store branches, but we recently caught wind of the country’s first-ever vending machine that dispenses Yoku Moku fare, and so headed to the Lazona shopping center in Kawasaki, Tokyo’s neighbor to the south, to check it out.

▼ The Yoku Moku vending machine is right under the arrow.

The vending machine is located in the Gran Food food court on the first floor. Even from afar, and with it surrounded by other shoppers, the vending machine’s color makes it instantly recognisable to any Yoku Moku fan, with the entire machine decked out in the brand’s blue hues.

The vending machine houses about ten different types of Yoku Moku goods. The line-up included the usual, such as a pack of fourteen Cigare cookies, perfect to give to someone as a gift. In a souvenir culture as unique as Japan’s, people often buy large boxes of Yoku Moku cookies to give to friends or co-workers. But alongside the multipacks of cookies were the ‘My Yoku Moku’ packs — a collection of cookies and sweets designed to buy for yourself, coming in much smaller sizes and portions.

▼ Here’s a video of the vending machine in action

We decided to treat ourselves to two of the My Yoku Moku collection — the Petit Cigare, a pack of five Cigare cookies, and the Bateaux de Macadamia, a set of three macadamia cookies. Each cost 350 yen (US$2.60), and you can pay using cash, an IC card, or cashless payment.

We were a little worried that the cookies might get cracked after falling down the vending machine’s chute, but a quick check of the contents once we got home showed absolutely no damage to either the Cigare or the Bateux de Macadamia. The boxes they came in were even in pristine condition, as if we’d purchased them in a shop!

▼ The Petit Cigare cookies

▼ The Bateaux de Macadamia cookies

There’s actually a Yoku Moku store within the Lazona Kawasaki Plaza where you can buy Cigare and other cookies too, but the opening hours for the store are a lot shorter than the vending machines. Plus, there’s something fun about buying cookies from a vending machine that a regular store won’t give you. So if you’re in the area, why don’t give it a try?

Vending Machine information
Lazona Kawasaki Plaza / ラゾーナ川崎プラザ
Address: Kanagawa Prefecture, Kanagawa City, Saiwai-ku, Horikawa-cho 72-1
神奈川県川崎市幸区堀川町72-1
Open: 7 a.m.-12 a.m.

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