This small Japanese town is a wine vending machine paradise.

(CNN) — There’s a reason Sagamihara, Japan isn’t in travel guides. It is a sprawling commuter town for nearby Yokohama and Tokyo. Main roads, light industrial estates and quiet towns where people pass rather than stop.

However, a 30-minute bus ride from Sagami-ono Station and behind the main street is Tatesuhiro Saito’s used tire shop, an unexpected and fascinating destination for those seeking a taste of Japan’s recent past — back to the 70’s and defunct. Food vending machines from the Shoah era (1926-1989).

Japan has long had a thing for vending machines, more per capita than any other country. While some rare examples in Tokyo offer curios like jewelry and collectible toys, most (more than half of the four million machines currently operating in Japan) serve drinks.

Saito’s collection of vintage machines — commonly referred to as “natsukashii” or nostalgia in Japanese — is a rare treat.

Most of them are visible from the 1970s and 80s on the two covered walkways adjacent to the dusty parking lot. Sweets and snacks typical of decades ago are available and often welcomed by visitors. If that doesn’t evoke a pleasant sense of nostalgia, there are also retro toys, Kodak camera film, AA batteries and some arcade machines.

Food from the machine

They are models serving fresh food that attract hundreds of people every weekend.

For 280 yen ($2), hamburgers — classic or teriyaki flavors — emerge cheerfully from machines dating back to the mid-’80s in bright yellow boxes. For 400 yen ($3) per serving, the nearly scalding hot Cha Sui Ramen is served in 25 seconds in a fancy plastic bowl.

A visitor checks the options at a noodle vending machine.

Dean Irvine

Other machines dispense hot Japanese-style curry roux over large bowls of rice; A lovely red digital countdown that lets customers know how long they have to wait before they can enter.

The “American Popcorn” machine hums along to some jaunty tunes.

Thirsty visitors must apply some muscle to two cute but dim Coca-Cola machines to partake of their classic bottled drink, which costs 100 yen (75 cents) each.

Finding a follower

The unique design and artwork of the machines are as attractive to many visitors as their food and drinks.

Goro Seto, head of the Kanagawa Vespa Club, is old enough to remember some machines from their heyday. He recently added it as a pit stop for the group’s latest trip after watching YouTube videos about Saito and his collection.

Other visitors are more into mechanics. A couple of local regulars return to the site regularly to see what new machine Saito has added to his collection. Sharp says the ‘Noodle Shop’ ramen machine is great because it makes the dispenser bigger and the food doesn’t burn when served.

Various drink machines sell soda and coffee.

Dean Irvine

Behind the secret

Saito, 50, said he never expected to start a business based on his love of vending machines and their inner workings.

From his childhood, he realized that those types of machines were becoming rare in Japan, and he saw it as a challenge to restore or maintain them. He mostly bought the machines through online auctions or acquired through word of mouth.

Since 2016, the collection of the vending machine has become more time-consuming than the tire-mounted business.

Now, Saito employs as many people to work in the kitchen and maintain the machines as he does to change a tire.

Saito stands in front of the two vending machines.

Dean Irvine

Spoiler alert: For those who think the machines are so high-tech they will prepare and cook all the food you serve – they don’t.

The hamburger is specially prepared for Saito from the original recipe by a caterer in Ebina (if you want to know the ingredients, you probably shouldn’t eat them), while almost all the other dishes — fried sandwiches, udon, curry, soba, rice and green tea salmon ochazuke — are on site. They are prepared in existing kitchens.

Saito and his crew have to restock the machines every day, and sometimes several times a day on weekends.

Food safety laws require anyone in Japan with a vending machine serving hot food to have the proper license and maintain the same hygiene standards as restaurants.

Japan’s food vending machines peaked in 1985 when there were 250,000 nationwide, according to the Japan Vending System Manufacturers Association. As of December 2021, it has dropped to 72,800. This number includes frozen foods like ice cream and desserts, so fresh food machines are few and far between.

However, it’s not all bad news.

Some machines have enjoyed a bit of a revival over the past two years, partly because of the pandemic’s impact on restaurant hours. Frozen ramen machines, for example, have been sprouting up outside restaurants in Tokyo for the past year.

For now, though, it seems it’s left to Saito and other mechanically minded enthusiasts to preserve the flavors and memories of the Shawan era.