[35-Days Trip 2010] Japan _ Subway, Bus and Vending machines

I relied on trains and buses much more than subways until the very end of my trip after I got to Tokyo and my JR pass ran out of time. If anything can reach the limit of complication in rail system, look at Tokyo. I joked about the subway map in New York City many times to my friends. The trick is: put your two fingers on 14th Street near lower Manhattan, pick all messy threads up and shake your hand a little bit. These 3 steps will be more than enough to straighten them all up with no nodes left.
Now let's see the metro map of Tokyo, I don't even know where I can fit my fingers between lines without tightening more nodes...

Anyway, the truth is that I did a pretty good job to not get lost and catch all the schedules, except, ok I'll leave this super dramatic end of my trip (crazier than the beginning) to later in "[35-Days Trip 2010] the Longest day".

These benches help relax your eyes,

but unfortunately not your back or butt...



The last topic of public transportation will be - bus. Sitting in a bus in Japan made me feel more like in China than in US, can't explain why, but don't think it's because the resemblance of people either. Besides this, there're three unique details on board I noticed, 

-rubber cover protection on all stainless steel railings

-LCD information system (not TV for advertisement which is common in buses / taxis in Shanghai)

-MAGIC ticket vending machine

Label #2: Vending machine
We all know Japan is standing at the cutting edge of all kinds of digital products, but still, I was impressed by how vending machines get so popular and thoughtful in Japanese daily life.

*bus ticket machine - magic

bus ticket machine is normal,

bus ticket machine onborad provides changes is not normal,

bus ticket machine onboard provides bill - coins, coin - coins changing sevice anytimes without requiring to buy ticket is "bank" (lucky coins-collectors like me).

*soft drink machine - everywhere

It's not necessary to keep a bottle of water in your backpack in Japan, because whenever and wherever you get thirsty, there's always a soft drink vending machine nearby, offering more choices of healthy tea than coke. They stand in city streets, suburban roads, village lanes, mountain paths... I don't know who's taking care of them when they're in the middle of nowhere, but they works 24/7 in all weather. Didn't see any of them tampered, even though, "illness" inside may be unavoidable like this one.

On the other hand, now I know how Suntory made its fortune.

*ramen machine - big potential improvement
It's a similar machine as those selling cans of drink, with pictures of various yummy ramen and bento boxes. The only difference is after you insert your coins, small ticket pop up instead of ramen, with which you can exchange for your food on the counter. See, big potention in the future, will be perfect if hot ramen is waiting in the bottom drawer.

*mysterious machine in temple- bizarre

I was making my best guess on what this machine was selling in front of Buddha in a famous temple. A Japanese calligraphic piece will come out of the machine after you put on 50 or 100 yen and people hold it to pray afterwards.
If it's what I guess it is, then I have to say, Japanese Buddha is real modern leader!