Strategy
At slightly over 5 million nationwide, vending machines are everywhere in Japan.
They are on nearly every block in Tokyo and dotted across even the most spartan landscapes in the country's vast rural expanse.
Photographer Eiji Ohashi began documenting Japan's vending machines nearly a decade ago after getting caught in a blizzard in his native region of Hokkaido. He navigated home using only the lights from the vending machines, which are often placed on the roadside.
Since, he has come to see the vending machines as a symbol of modern Japan - full of convenience, safety, and loneliness.
Ohashi shared some photos of the strangest places he's found vending machines with Business Insider here, but you can see more in his books Roadside Lights and Being There.