What is it? Where is it?

[ironyak]

Good guess, but no. Actually a bit surprised that Daiso doesn't have lots of these, maybe out front.

Here's a bit wider view: (have one more wider view clue as needed also)

[ironyak]

Hmm, still too vague apparently - hopefully this has enough context clues for an answer to be spun together. (Sorry for being coy, one of the kids got it based on the star alone!)

[ironyak]

Ok, so this is a Cotton Candy vending machine in Prince Kuhio Mall near the Tractor Supply entrance. Having not been in the mall for a few years or more, it stood out in all its 1940's Wulitzer glory when I dropped in for that Slack Key Guitar performance a few weeks back.
   

The real point of this belabored exercise, although this apparently might not be the right venue, is if anyone knows of other unique and bold character vending machines on island to keep an eye out for while making the occasional rounds? I was hoping Daiso had the goods, but made my first trip last week to only be met by blank outside wall space.

Or maybe some have a favorite vending machine from the land of the rising sun where anyone is able to put a vending machine on their own property, and which offer everything from sodas and snacks, to ties and umbrellas, to cold beer and hot pizza (what'd you say kalianna - want to go in on a pizza vending machine for Pahoa? They're open 24/7, never forget to make the dough (as we were told one time at Boogie Woogie when stopping in for lunch) and can offer everything from margherita to cream sauce with corn and ham!)

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

favorite vending machine from the land of the rising sun

The mystery photo vending machine does have a Japanese look to it, the Neko (cat) and its paw prints.  But scroll for more options? Cmon.

This was one of my favorite vending contraptions at a Shinkansen platform in Tokyo (one of them).  Look on the lower left for the notice that it takes 95 seconds to complete your order - so don’t miss your train!  The screen at the top middle shows your coffee being ground, brewed and dripped into a cup inside the machine.  It’s not a window, that would be so 10 years ago.  There’s a camera inside that transmits the process to the video screen.

If I could install one of these outside the Keaau Post Office for people waiting waiting waiting in that never ending line, I’d be a homegrown Puna billionaire.

   

[ironyak]

You gotta give the kawaii neko in Hilo a break - doing the best they can with no opposable thumbs! And as for authenticity, they do offer milk as a flavor - what do you want, natto cotton candy? ;)

In trying to decipher the shinkansen コーヒー machine, is each subpanel a different drink and then a series of buttons for options for that drink? So there are like 15 different atatakai (warm) drinks, but what are the several buttons - different cream and sugar levels or something for each? And here I thought coffee options in LA were a bit much...

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

is each subpanel a different drink and then a series of buttons for options

I thought about ordering, but my train arrived before I could decide what I wanted.  I tried to resize the photo so you can read the choices in English, this is the largest size MyBB lets me upload and display, but I think you can read some of them:

   

[ironyak]

Thanks! Yeah, so each subpanel is a drink and then each button has an option apparently in order of increasing complexity? (Black (burakku), Less Sugar, With Sugar, With Cream, Less Sugar & Cream, With Sugar & Cream). I like how the Cafe Mocha even has option for Shinamon Toppingu or not. Ultimately it seems you look across all the options and then push a single button - maybe is the best arrangement for that early morning under-caffeinated travel, once you learn which button is your routine go to.

Any chance to get one more zoom-in on that x-y graph that's part of each of the Shinkansen Blends? Each say they are a Medium Roast but then appear to have different x-y plots maybe as flavor profiles (?) but can't quite make out the characters on the axes. Enhance onegaishimasu!

Gotta love the maximalist interfaces - who says that Hilo Starbucks in Target couldn't be replaced by a vending machine with a large enough board of push button options?

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

Any chance to get one more zoom-in on that x-y graph

I tried to zoom in, but the photo wasn’t clear enough to clearly read the descriptions on the graph/chart. I called in my specialist as my Japanese reading ability is on the far left side of a bell curve. She said, yes, hard to read, but the top was probably dark, the bottom light, the left bitter, the right umami.
Next time I’m passing through Tokyo we’re going to buy two cups, from the far ends of the scale. Taste test!

Unless I’m distracted by a Shinkansen platform ice cream vending machine first.

[ironyak]

HereOnThePrimalEdge - I tried to zoom in, but the photo wasn’t clear enough to clearly read the descriptions on the graph/chart.
Thanks for giving it a try (did the Zoom and Enhance trope lie to me - I feel so disillusioned...)

I did manage to hunt down this article with a decent close up image. It appears the y-axis is ソフト - sofotu (soft, light, creamy flavor) versus コク- koku (rich, full-bodied, deep) flavor, but the kanji on the x-axis are beyond me (image translation suggests Bitter vs Acidity?). Any chance you can ask your language expert to help resolve the mystery?

Once we get that billionaire tax passed and can fund the Railroad Ave Bullet Train (Cinderland to Hilo Express - just 7.5 minutes!) we'll be well positioned to rake in all those dalas from the chain of highly-complex but deeply-informative high-speed coffee vending machines :)

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

image translation suggests Bitter vs Acidity?). Any chance you can ask your language expert to help resolve the mystery?

There was some guessing about the left-right lettering, as it was too blurry.  But knowing it was coffee she was fairly certain the left side said bitter.  She said that’s an aspect of coffee which is popular in Brazil and now in Japan.  Her first guess for the right side was sour, but that sounded like something was lost in translation so I asked for clarification and she said, yes, subtle sourness, more like umami.  

That’s the best I can do for now, but the next time I’m in Japan I have some coffee research on the docket.

Railroad Ave Bullet Train (Cinderland to Hilo Express - just 7.5 minutes!)

Yes, let’s reclaim Railroad Avenue, bring back the tracks as the alternate route to Hilo, A Better Puna New Railroad Rail Trail, with an express route, multi stop local, and parallel walled from the tracks protected bike trail.  We can dream, right?