At one point, you didn’t talk about Japan without talking about vending machines. Back in 2012 they were said to be living in the future, and they had vending machines for everything. Bread, booze, and… used underwear? 

It fed right into the idea we had of the ~weird Japan~ with odd gameshows and even odder pornography so the legend was totally believable. But now Japanese culture is pretty mainstream (and the author happens to be visiting soon), so what’s the story behind these weird and wacky machines? 

Well, unlike most playground rumours (that we would never question and look up in those days), there is actually a bit of truth to this one.  

First off – Japan does have a tonne of vending machines: one for every twenty-three people. And yes, at one point, used panties were automatically dispensed – but the story is a little more complicated than that.  

Rather than vending machines, the *ahem* articles of clothing were dispensed from “gachapon” machines. For the uninitiated (non-gambling addicts), gatchapon (or gatcha machines) are machines where you insert a coin and spin a dial, then a little toy pops out, chosen at random from the selection inside. Think of a gumball machine, but for collectables.  

So you could just get anyone’s used panties on any old street corner?! 

Well, no. This was the 90s, before someone finally pointed out that the fetishism of school girls and uniforms was actually really creepy and it should stop. Brittany Spears’ Baby One More Time is about to top the charts.  

Japan even had a name for it – or the panty specific part anyway – “Burusera”. A portmanteau of “sailor suit” (think Japanese school uniforms) and “bloomers” (pants and shorts), shops specialising in such wears and costumes began to appear. And what’s better for degenerates than pants that look like a school girl wore them? Pants that a school girl wore.  

Allegedly, some girls would pick up some pants in the way to school in the morning, then drop in and sell them for profit on the way home. Enterprising? Maybe. But the Japanese government and I agree that it also sounds like a venture ripe for exploitation.  

While the burusera trade skirted child exploitation laws, it could not escape bureaucracy forever, and in 2004 a tag team of juvenile protection and second-hand used goods regulations suplexed the industry for good. Right? 

This is the “even more bizarre truth” part.  

The craze backed-off, but people still (apparently) needed their used panty fix so, to avoid regulations, shops sell “used” panties. Yes, “used”. Knickers with chemicals and dyes added to look and *blergh* smell used. 

And though demand is at an all time low due to laws (and it being kinda gross?), the range is massive. School girl panties, urine-soaked panties, even period panties – the possibilities are endless.  

While you can still buy some ladies’ used drawers, they tend to be in proper brick-and-mortar sex shops – hanging on the wall in plastic bags, running quite a price, and coming from women with high school diplomas.  

So if you find yourself stumbling around the streets of Akihabara and clutch your pearls at the school girl panty gumball machine, never fear! They are (probably) vegan.