Vending machines speak foreign languages

 The companies hope that by enabling more non-Japanese speakers to use the machines, they can take advantage of the recent increase in the number of foreign-tourist shoppers and boost vending-machine sales.

On Wednesday, Asahi Group Holdings installed a device with a built-in tablet that recommends beverages to customers in English next to a vending machine near the Kaminarimon Gate in Asakusa, Tokyo.

If, for example, a customer wants to drink coffee, he or she answers a series of voice-guided prompts from the device and a coffee beverage that meets his or her preference is displayed on the screen. The customer can then buy the coffee from the vending machine next to the device.
A woman from Thailand said that she enjoyed choosing a beverage and felt the machine was convenient.
Last month, Coca-Cola (Japan) Co introduced vending machines that use a QR (quick response) code to send product information to customers’ smartphones in 15 languages. The company plans to install 80,000 of the machines by 2020. Japanese beverage makers see high growth potential in the foreign-tourist market and are hurrying to respond. According to one market source, the large number of vending machines found on the streets is a uniquely Japanese phenomenon and the product of a safe society.
Many foreign tourists are said to be interested in the vending machines and their offerings, but often give up on buying beverages because of instructions written in Japanese.