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Answerman - What Unique Sodas Are Sold in Japan?


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Zof





PostPosted: Wed Nov 21, 2018 1:07 pm Reply with quote
For an American, the important thing is Japan FINALLY has proper Diet Coke. You don't have to suffer with that terrible liquefied pencil shavings flavored copy from Pepsi anymore.
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Shiflan



Joined: 29 Jul 2015
Posts: 418
PostPosted: Wed Nov 21, 2018 1:28 pm Reply with quote
An article about "unique Japanese sodas" and no mention of Ramune and its interesting bottle, which was actually a western invention, yet now is largely unheard of in the west? Shame!!!!
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TheAncientOne



Joined: 06 Oct 2010
Posts: 1868
Location: USA (mid-south)
PostPosted: Wed Nov 21, 2018 1:40 pm Reply with quote
Shiflan wrote:
An article about "unique Japanese sodas" and no mention of Ramune and its interesting bottle, which was actually a western invention, yet now is largely unheard of in the west? Shame!!!!

In the second to last paragraph:
Quote:
There are a lot of other Japanese soft drinks that aren't commonly sold in vending machines (such as yogurt drinks and kid-oriented drinks like Qoo and the famous ramune).
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Shiflan



Joined: 29 Jul 2015
Posts: 418
PostPosted: Wed Nov 21, 2018 1:45 pm Reply with quote
TheAncientOne wrote:
Shiflan wrote:
An article about "unique Japanese sodas" and no mention of Ramune and its interesting bottle, which was actually a western invention, yet now is largely unheard of in the west? Shame!!!!

In the second to last paragraph:
Quote:
There are a lot of other Japanese soft drinks that aren't commonly sold in vending machines (such as yogurt drinks and kid-oriented drinks like Qoo and the famous ramune).


Well, that's on me, I missed that!
But I would have expected more than a half-sentence mention. I recall a few instances in anime in which the strange nature of the Ramune bottle was actually a plot point.
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Crabtree1



Joined: 14 Mar 2018
Posts: 106
Location: Aberdeenshire
PostPosted: Wed Nov 21, 2018 2:45 pm Reply with quote
"Since underage drinking isn't a huge problem in Japan, vending machines also offer light alcoholic drinks"

........What!? That has got to be one of the most alien concepts I've ever heard to actually exist. There must be a massive amount of trust for that to happen, I know if it happened here all vending machines would be smashed within a few hours.... Rolling Eyes
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CorneredAngel



Joined: 17 Jun 2002
Posts: 854
Location: New York, NY
PostPosted: Wed Nov 21, 2018 2:54 pm Reply with quote
Crabtree1 wrote:
"Since underage drinking isn't a huge problem in Japan, vending machines also offer light alcoholic drinks"

........What!? That has got to be one of the most alien concepts I've ever heard to actually exist. There must be a massive amount of trust for that to happen, I know if it happened here all vending machines would be smashed within a few hours.... :roll:


At least in Tokyo and Kyoto, the only vending machines I saw carry beer/other alcoholic drinks are already in hotels, not just out on the street. Though, could very well be different in other places. And, for what it's worth, it's not like buying beer without an ID is particularly difficult in the U.S., either - especially in a big city!
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nobahn
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Joined: 14 Dec 2006
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PostPosted: Wed Nov 21, 2018 3:18 pm Reply with quote
Zof wrote:
For an American, the important thing is Japan FINALLY has proper Diet Coke. You don't have to suffer with that terrible liquefied pencil shavings flavored copy from Pepsi anymore.

For the life of me, I cannot figure out if this is serious or if this is a joke..... Confused
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Crabtree1



Joined: 14 Mar 2018
Posts: 106
Location: Aberdeenshire
PostPosted: Wed Nov 21, 2018 3:23 pm Reply with quote
CorneredAngel wrote:
Crabtree1 wrote:
"Since underage drinking isn't a huge problem in Japan, vending machines also offer light alcoholic drinks"

........What!? That has got to be one of the most alien concepts I've ever heard to actually exist. There must be a massive amount of trust for that to happen, I know if it happened here all vending machines would be smashed within a few hours.... Rolling Eyes


At least in Tokyo and Kyoto, the only vending machines I saw carry beer/other alcoholic drinks are already in hotels, not just out on the street. Though, could very well be different in other places. And, for what it's worth, it's not like buying beer without an ID is particularly difficult in the U.S., either - especially in a big city!


Ah. Well that makes more sense now, the thought of an unguarded 12 pack was a bit strange Laughing Laughing
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Rika Hue



Joined: 19 Dec 2015
Posts: 147
PostPosted: Wed Nov 21, 2018 4:20 pm Reply with quote
^

No, I live in Nagasaki and I've seen alcohol vending machine out on the streets. It was only a few though. This specific one is on a busy street close to a bus stop and a mall, so an underage kid won't really be able to get away buying something from it in broad daylight. There are cops that make sure there are no kids out and about (by themselves) after dark, so that's not really an option either. Anyway, I think Japan has good control over that situation.

There are also cigarette vending machines, which is another discussion for another time.

I've also discovered the elusive snack vending machines - ones that sell sweet bread, kit kats, and pretzels, for example.

Oh and a recent invention is cup vending machines. So instead of a bottle of coke or calpis you get a big cup of it!

Last point - if you can find it there's even a vending machine with mountain dew!
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Tenebrae



Joined: 26 Apr 2008
Posts: 485
PostPosted: Wed Nov 21, 2018 5:05 pm Reply with quote
During my trip, I liked sampling various flavors available in the vending machines and usually tried to pick one that I hadn't tasted before. I liked most of them, as far as I can recall, and there were quite a few different kinds available. Can't say what most of the stuff was as names were mostly just in japanese, I went mostly by images printed on the bottles. Didn't really sample the coffees though, it was warm (and lot of time spent walking around) so I pretty much went for cold juices all the time. Can't recall seeing alcoholic drinks outside the hotel, but then again I wasn't looking for them and might've just breezed past any.
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Zin5ki



Joined: 06 Jan 2008
Posts: 6680
Location: London, UK
PostPosted: Wed Nov 21, 2018 5:06 pm Reply with quote
Crabtree1 wrote:
That has got to be one of the most alien concepts I've ever heard to actually exist. There must be a massive amount of trust for that to happen, I know if it happened here all vending machines would be smashed within a few hours.... Rolling Eyes

One can only assume that Japanese youths learn how hard drinks are not worth the extra cost before they do so over here. I recall once trying to enjoy alcohol as if it was obliged of me as a rite of passage, only to realise that soft drinks better suited me in all ways.
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Sparvid



Joined: 06 Oct 2009
Posts: 240
PostPosted: Wed Nov 21, 2018 6:26 pm Reply with quote
Rika Hue wrote:
There are also cigarette vending machines, which is another discussion for another time.

I haven't used them myself since I don't smoke so I could be wrong, but I believe that in order to use a cigarette vending machine, you need to use some kind of touch card to activate it first, and presumably you need to be an adult to be able to get one of those cards to begin with.
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EricJ2



Joined: 01 Feb 2014
Posts: 4016
PostPosted: Wed Nov 21, 2018 8:21 pm Reply with quote
nobahn wrote:
Zof wrote:
For an American, the important thing is Japan FINALLY has proper Diet Coke. You don't have to suffer with that terrible liquefied pencil shavings flavored copy from Pepsi anymore.

For the life of me, I cannot figure out if this is serious or if this is a joke..... Confused


Or if he's just looking for more off-topic excuses for the "I'm so stoned" joke he tried (and was Modded for) the first time.

And besides, don't we already have classic Coke Zero, which was brought out after everyone caught on that US Diet Coke was actually that 90's New Coke that had just been rebranded after being taken off the market?
(Coke Zero originally also tried to copy Pepsi One's idea of reducing water content to taste like a "thicker" syrup-based regular cola, but not sure if they're still doing that. Heard from one Pepsi fan who said she couldn't drink CZ because of that, and asked me what the heck was up with that soda.)

Quote:
Fruit tends to be a popular soda flavor in Japan. "Melon flavored" drinks, such as Zeitaku Melon Milk, tend to be overpoweringly sweet and bright green in color. Kirin Salty Litchi actually has lychee juice in it. There's apple sodas like Natchan!


Yep, count me another Disney Parks fan who goes to Epcot's world-of-Coke exhibit just to try the free samples of China's Smart Watermelon soda, Brazil's guarana-berry and Mexico's La Manzana apple soda. Razz
Three flavors we could use more of over here.
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OjaruFan2



Joined: 09 Jul 2018
Posts: 659
PostPosted: Wed Nov 21, 2018 11:53 pm Reply with quote
I'd like to try Calpico, Natchan, and Qoo!

I remember back when I first tried Ramune back in 2015/2016, my parents were so appalled by the marble inside the bottle that they made me pour the soda into a cup and drink it from that.

nobahn wrote:
Zof wrote:
For an American, the important thing is Japan FINALLY has proper Diet Coke. You don't have to suffer with that terrible liquefied pencil shavings flavored copy from Pepsi anymore.

For the life of me, I cannot figure out if this is serious or if this is a joke..... Confused

I think he's being serious.
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Brand



Joined: 30 Jan 2006
Posts: 1028
PostPosted: Thu Nov 22, 2018 12:00 am Reply with quote
Warm drinks from a vending machine is such an awesome thing. I wish we could have in the states. Nothing better than on a chilly day than getting a warm drink in hand.
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