Photo Friday: DyDo Machine and Kamen Cider

There are a lot of vending machines in Japan. Most of the ones in my area carried Coca-cola products, which was fine most of the time. However, to get the really good stuff, you need to find a DyDo machine.

DyDo machines are amazing for a number of reasons. They stock awesome drinks like Hotcake Juice and Yogurt, the machine thanks you for every purchase and there's a roulette system which, if you win, gives you a free drink.

It's also host to my favorite Japanese gimmick soda: Kamen Cider.

I say gimmick because other than the name, this soda doesn't have much going for it. It's a decent cider I guess, but the only reason to seek it out and buy it over another brand is the packaging.

I suppose a little background is in order for those unfamiliar with Japanese pop-culture. There is a long running tokusatsu (特撮, special effects) TV show in Japan called Kamen Rider. Kamen (仮面) means mask or masked, so the show is Masked Rider. Though I'm sure I'll elaborate more on this series in a future post, think of something along the lines of Power Rangers, itself an American adaptation of a tokusatsu series. The design of each can of Kamen Cider is based off a character from the show's long history, with information about the character included on the back. It lends itself well to the collector "Gotta Catch 'Em All" culture of Japan, my own disappointment with getting four Kamen Rider Black cans a clear sign that I too have been sucked into this mindset.

Kamen Rider not your thing? Dydo has you covered with Ultraman (Ultra Water) and Super Sentai (Goranger). Check out their website here.