Can Vending Machines Save Japan?

Part I: Trust meets High Technology

Why is it that some of Japan’s most futuristic-looking tech actually comes from the 1960s and 70s?

Exhibit A: the shinkansen. I challenge you to stand on the platform, watch it cruise to a halt in front of you - while remaining behind the yellow line of course, or else the station announcer will scold you - and not feel a little shiver travel down your spine.

Here it is, at its launch in 1964 and earlier this summer. Not all that different…