We find out just how devilish and angelic these 100-yen surprises are.

Our reporter Natsuno Futon was strolling the streets of Oyama City in Tochigi Prefecture the other day when she came across an unusual vending machine. The first thing that caught her eye was the huge “100 yen” (US$0.63) sign on the front, but then, as she stepped closer, she became even more intrigued.

There, in the window display, were the words “いろんなおもちゃ” (“various toys“), and beneath them: “Contains items worth between 20 and 300 yen“.

As her eyes moved down to scan the second row, she read the words: “平和と平等” (“Peace and Equality”) and then, on the third row, “天使と悪魔” (“Angels and Demons”).

Natsuno had never encountered a vending machine stocked with Peace and Equality and Angels and Demons before, and neither had her children who were with her on this outing. Needless to say, her children were excited to find out what these mystery items were, so Natsuno found herself reaching into her pocket for some 100-yen coins.

With a machine like this, part of the fun is randomly selecting a button to press, and her daughter started by pushing one of the buttons on the top row, which were marked “おもちゃ” (“toys“).

▼ A long cylinder immediately popped out into the tray at the bottom of the machine, and this is what came out of it.

A toy car and five toy coins. From Natsuno’s point-of-view, this was a bit of a disappointment, particularly as her daughter doesn’t have any interest in toy cars or fake coins.

▼ Hoping for something better, her daughter popped a real coin into the machine and pressed a button on the “Peace and Equality“row.

The buttons on the second and third rows read “お菓子” (“sweets“), so they knew this would be something edible. What that would be, however, remained a mystery until they popped the lid on the canister they received.

▼ Oh! That looks like Mochitaro.

Mochitaro is a classic Japanese “dagashi” (cheap snack) consisting of crunchy rice cracker chunks. It wasn’t the only thing in the canister, as it also contained some mango jelly and a small bag of Haribo gummy candies.

For 100 yen (US$0.63), this was a decent deal, and it gave Natsuno and her daughter hope that they might be able to encounter an angel on their next try.

▼ Time to press a button on the “Angels and Demons” row.

What came out, however, appeared to be neither an angel nor a demon, as the canister was ambiguous.

Even after looking inside, they weren’t sure whether they’d been visited by a demon or an angel, as they received six cheap candies that might’ve been worth around 100 yen. The dark hues on some of the packs, including the iconic Black Thunder chocolate, hinted at a devilish selection, but on the other hand, it was a pretty good deal.

▼ Curious to give it another try, Natsuno’s daughter pressed another button…

▼ …and out popped a canister with the word “Devil” printed on it in big red characters.

▼ What was inside?

▼ One puffed wheat snack.

This was definitely devilish – paying 100 yen to receive just one cheap puffed rice snack was a merciless move, and now they were more determined than ever to meet an angel.

▼ One more try.

▼ Success!

The progression from ambiguous canister through to devil and then angel was such a great progression that Natsuno felt it was almost as if there was someone inside the machine, reading the atmosphere and doling out excitement in increasing levels.

▼ The word “アタリ!” (“win!“) was also printed on the canister, adding to the sense of joy.

▼ So…let’s see what the angel delivered.

This was definitely a win, as it was the best result so far, with Natsuno estimating the total value to be more than 100 yen. Emboldened by this result, Natsuno and her daughter went for another try on the toy line, which seemed to present a better deal than the sweet options.

▼ If there’s a chance of winning something worth up to 300 yen, this is where they might get lucky.

▼ They were rewarded with two fun erasers from respected company Iwako, and a dinosaur egg.

Natsuno figured this bundle was worth over 200 yen. It wasn’t bad, but to be honest, she wouldn’t say it was worth 300 yen.

▼ After a total of six tries, here’s everything they received.

It may not have been a huge deal, but the real draw of the machine wasn’t a tangible product visible to the human eye. The real takeaway here was the fun and excitement of wondering what might come out of the machine, and that was worth way more than every deposit of 100 yen.

▼ There aren’t really any other places in the world where you can buy “peace and equality” for 100 yen.

▼ Judging by the containers in the return spot for reuse, there weren’t many angels that day either, so they felt extra blessed to have received one.

If you’d like to try your luck at the vending machine, it’s located under a sign for “NPO Aoringo” on a black building that reads “Ad Promote Co., Ltd.”and we’ve included the address for you below.

Ad Promote operates and stocks these machines, and according to its online shop, “Omoro Shokai” (“Fun Trading Company”), the Omoro vending machines ceased operations in January this year. That means this machine, which we visited in May, is the last of its kind in the country, so if you’re like us and love visiting weird and unusual machines, this is a stop worth putting on your itinerary.

Location information
Omoro Vending Machine / おもろー自販機
Address: Tochigi-ken, Oyama-shi, Awamiya 1-13-41
栃木県小山市粟宮1-13-41
Website

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