This was our first day in Japan, and this was the only picture with a
vending machine. On the picture there are regular vending machines with
the already closed but well lit
Tomioka Hachimangu Shrine
to the right. According to google there is also a flea market, but we
never went during the day. More interestingly, there was a domestic double
murder suicide at the shrine in 2017,
killing the head priestess.
According to this
related article
there are more shinto shrines in Japan than convenience stores
(100,000-150,000 vs 55,000), although this is counting small shrines which
"do not have a regular priest". Comparing this to the number of vending
machines on the other hand it is not even close: there were around
3.93 million
vending machines in Japan in 2023.
日本に着いた日はこの自販機しか撮らなかった。飛行機は午後着陸したので、富岡八幡宮に着いた時はもう暗かったけど、神社はよく照明されていた。フリーマーケットもあるらしいけど、昼間で行かなかった。案外なことに、２０１７年神社では「家庭内二重殺人と自殺」があって、宮司が殺されたそうだ。
この事件に関する記事によって日本ではコンビニより神社のほうが多いそうだ(55,000対100,000-150,000)。でも、これは重任の宮司のない神社も含まれている。もちろん、自販機の数に比べたら、両方は立ち遅れている。２０２３年は日本で約393万の自販機があったそうだ。
