Japan phases out beer vending machines in campaign against alcoholism

TOKYO - It was a busy day Thursday at liquor stores across Japan, where workers were dismantling a national institution bottle by bottle: the beer vending machine.

Fears of rampant alcoholism and underage drinking have forced the country's liquor stores to adopt a voluntary ban on using the machines. Shops complying with the plan pulled the plug late Wednesday.

The move dealt a near death blow to alcohol vending machines, which for decades have symbolized the Japanese penchant for automated convenience - and a taste for booze.

''Today I'm taking all the beer out - and putting in the juice,'' said Masayuki Murata as he stood beside an emptied machine in front of his family's Surugaya Liquor Store in central Tokyo.

The 130,000-member All Japan Liquor Merchants Association estimated that up to 70 percent of the nation's 170,000 alcohol vending machines were shut down by the ban.

Allowances were made for stores that depend heavily on the machines, which typically operate until 11 p.m. - providing a quick and easy drink for people who get off work after liquor stores close.

But the ban sent a clear message: beer from a machine is becoming a thing of the past.

Of course, the vending machine itself is still going strong, glowing on nighttime streets like beacons of commercialism and convenience, selling everything from soda and juice to CDs and videos.

The ban on beer vending machines was aimed at cutting down on underage drinking. Government statistics are spotty, but a government survey in 1996 found more than half of male high school seniors drank alcohol at least once or twice a month.

Such students are typically 17 or 18 - well below the drinking age of 20.

''It's a problem that children can buy something at a vending machine that they can't buy face-to-face in a store,'' said Iwane Matsui, chairman of the National Congress of PTA Associations of Japan.

Drinking in general is a growing concern in Japan. Alcohol consumption is surging especially among women, and inebriated office workers are a common sight on nighttime streets and in subways.

The vending machine ban, however, was not expected to make much of a dent on underage drinking. Convenience stores have been moving into the beer-selling business in recent years and have been criticized for selling alcohol without checking customers' IDs.

The liquor store association is now pushing to get a law proposed in Parliament that would crack down on stores that sell to underage drinkers and tighten restrictions on liquor licenses.

''We have to take a good look at how we sell liquor in Japan,'' said Mamoru Tanaka, spokesman for the association.

The vending machine ban could hit some liquor stores where it hurts: the cash register.

Hachigo Murata, the owner of the tiny Surugaya Liquor Store, said he was making about 10 percent of his sales on the cluster of machines next to his shop. To make up for the shortfall, he plans to stay open an hour later each night, until about 10 p.m.

''I don't know how customers are going to react,'' he said.

Despite those worries, the role of the beer vending machine has declined in recent years, as convenience stores and large discount shops that sell in bulk have moved in on the market.

Like many Japanese, beer fan Yasuo Kawabata said he just drives to a local discount outlet, buys a case of brew and takes it home. When he gets off work at night, a cold bottle is waiting for him in the fridge.

''There are plenty of cheaper places where you can buy a lot,'' he said on Thursday on a Tokyo street. ''I almost never use a vending machine, so the ban doesn't bother me at all.''