We have public transport otakus among many others but here's
a vending machine oktaku..
Japanese man so obsessed with vending machine, he's
snapped pics of it since 2005
Almost every day, for eight years, a Japanese man has been
taking photos of the same vending machine to post on his
blog.
Ryuichi Ikeda said he has "no interest in the vending machine
itself or its contents," but why he started doing so was to update
his blog daily and quickly, reported Kotaku.
He started the blog on August 5, 2005, and it is still being
updated today (April 16, 2013). It also pulls out older entries to
show how the vending machine looked like on that same day but in
past years.
Interestingly, the title of his blog is 'I take a picture of the
vending machine every day (or so). I’m very sorry"
There are over 2,000 photos of the same Coca-Cola vending machine
on the blog; in a country that is famous for its ubiquitous array
of ingenious vending machines that dispense anything from piping
hot bowls of ramen to fresh vegetables and cute Hello Kitty
toys.
Although most of his posts are labelled 'no change' to save time,
there are times when the drinks display changes, the advertisements
change, and the vending machine itself also underwent technological
upgrades.
In 2009, the vending machine got an e-money reader to accept
digital payments.
Changes like these warrant the blogger from Sapporo to title his
posts 'slight change' and catalogue the various change or changes
that took place. He will painstakingly indicate which stickers have
been placed and what drinks are new or how they have been
rearranged.
It becomes more like a spot the difference game for the avid reader
of Ikeda's daily obsession which he would prefer to take him less
than five minutes a day.
On his Flickr account, he also has photos of other vending machines
around Japan.
Perhaps Ikeda's daily obsession also reflects on how we take for
granted things we encounter every day -- that we never take note of
them until there is a change, and how things do change daily, just
not perceived to have changed.
http://singaporeseen.stomp.com.sg/stomp/sgseen/this_urban_jungle/1702704/japanese_man_so_obsessed_with_a_vending_machine.html