I went to a ramen place in Tokyo and to order ramen you had to insert money and place your order via this machine. This felt like going back to the early 90s but in a way that we are definitely not used to in western countries. It had a very retro futuristic vibe!
I found that so curious in Tokyo, even some hole-in-the-wall food shops would use the ticket system when the attendant is standing right next to the ticketing machine!
But, it is ubiquitous over there.
Weirdest thing I saw over there was deep fried sparrows.
Or the garden shop I went into had a (poor thing) monkey in a large cage who jacked off furiously and threw it at me.
In Kyūshū I saw a supermarket have out a public rotary dial telephone. It was in a relatively new supermarket. The supermarket even published diagrams instructing people on how to use a rotary dial, right next to the phone, as well as a recently-printed label for taxi phone numbers on the phone itself, to demonstrate that these almost-obsolete devices still had utility in 2018.
When I visit a new country I always take a look at what mildly iconic retro items it maintains that I don’t find back home, for example the KiHa 40 trains in rural Japan, or the old Citroen cars in France, or the BBC microcomputers in the UK, among others.
If you're into learning about history and inner workings of retro electrical components, Fran Blanche has a great channel on YouTube! Personally, the nixie tubes and other retro displays/indicators are my favorite.
I love old tech, it feels more "natural" in a way. Curious about how people will view "nature" in a thousand years or so, perhaps finding comfort within the technology we have today.
If you don't mind sharing, what's the name of this place?
I had a one day transit through Japan not too long ago. We made our way to the Golden Gai area and had some absolutely delicious niboshi ramen too! The place we went to is named Ramen Nagi.
And of course, it uses a ticketing machine just like this picture! =D
There's something satisfying about flipping or sliding a phone. I have a Z Fold 3, and I love it, but sometimes I miss my Razr, or my sliding dumb phone with a qwerty keyboard.
I used to live in a city which had a nice café filled with a lot of (inactive) retro vending machines, like for chewing gums or boxes of matches, that was an interesting atmosphere