Japan is probably one of the countries with the highest number of vending machine per square kilometer; you find them virtually at every street corner and even in the middle of nowhere.

Coffee and tea vending machine
Coffee and tea vending machine

Japanese vending machines, called jidô-hambaïki 自動販売機, (or ji-han-ki 自販機 in short), are special for two reasons:
First, because they sell something else than Pepsi or Coke: often coffee or tea (green tea, oolong tea…).
Second, because these jihanji also sell hot cans! (I was very suprized when I discovered that)
Moreover, thanks to a clever mechanism, it is possible to switch between hot and cold according to the season: while almost all drinks will be cold in the summer, the same vending machine will sell hot drinks in the winter.

I often thought that this concept of vending machines selling (hot) coffee cans could be introduced in Europe or in the US, but someone told me the reason why we don’t have as many vending machines as they do is probably because of vandalism. That’s a shame.

Another anecdote: in Japan, tabacco and alcohol are also sold in vending machines, although these products are of course forbidden to minors (under 20, in Japan). I really wonder how they do.