New Japanese vending machine at Shinkansen station sells cups of ice on platform

A new way to make your journey on Japan’s fastest trains even cooler. If you’re about to take a bullet train ride on a hot summer day, you’ll be happy to know that Central Japan Railway Company has ju

A new way to make your journey on Japan’s fastest trains even cooler.

If you’re about to take a bullet train ride on a hot summer day, you’ll be happy to know that Central Japan Railway Company has just installed a new station platform vending machine selling something cold and refreshing. However, this machine doesn’t sell cans of cola, bottles of tea, or even tubs of ice cream. Instead, it sells cups of ice.

As of August 7, travelers passing through Shin Osaka Station on the Tokaido Shinkansen line (which connects Osaka, Kyoto, and Tokyo) will find a Fuji Electric FFS107WFXU1 vending machine on Platform 27. Ordinarily this model is used to store and sell frozen foods, but the Shinkansen platform one is stocked entirely with Rock Ice Glass, containers of ice cubes.

Though crunching into the cubes as an edible snack is, technically, an option, that’s not really their intended use. As fast as the Shinkansen may be, it still takes about two and a half hours to get from Osaka to Tokyo by bullet train, and roughly the same amount of time for the trip from Osaka to Fukuoka, so any beverage you’re taking onboard with you is going to get lukewarm long before you reach your destination. The new vending machine gives travelers a way to keep a separately purchased drink cold for an extended period of time by pouring it into the Rock Ice Glass after they’re seated on the train.

Of course, there are limits to how long the ice will last before it melts. Rock Ice Glass has already proven to be a big seller at stores and kiosks within Shin Osaka Station, though, so there’s clearly a demand for it among rail travelers, and by placing the vending machine right on the Shinkansen platform, passengers can get theirs just before boarding, so that they’ll have the maximum amount of time to use it during their ride.

▼ Despite the name. Rock Ice Glass comes in a plastic cup.

The Rock Ice Glass vending machine is located on Platform 27 near where Car 6 of incoming Shinkansen trains stops. Payment is by cashless (IC transit card or bar code) methods only, and at 220 yen (US$1.40) it might be slightly more expensive than the drink you’re pouring into it, but it’s hard to put a price on the pleasure of an ice-cold drink during a Japanese summer, especially since the Shinkansen no longer sells beverages onboard.