FOOD: A Homemade Meal … From a Vending Machine
Vending machines are big business in Japan. Found on almost every street corner, machines sell a vast array of goods from beer and cigarettes to warm coffee and even bread in a can. But with over five million machines across the country, there’s only one selling hot, freshly prepared curry over home grown rice.
Make the trip to the town of Awa-shi and you’ll find 74-year-old Tadashi Yoshimoto’s one-of-a-kind machine along a lonely stretch of highway. A former rice farmer, Yoshimoto has been running his vending business for
40 years, gradually making a name for himself as Japan’s only supplier of homemade vending machine mea
ls. Yoshimoto lovingly prepares his food twice a day, and as if that wasn’t enough, he also grows the rice himself – ensuring f
ans of his food travel far and wide to pick up his home-cooked curry for just ¥300.
A Great Big Story made in partnership with CNN
