This isn’t a cool thing we want, but it’s entirely mentionable nonetheless. The highly informative and often incredibly bizarre (by our blinkered standards) Only In Japan show checks out the fascinating Automat Diner in Isesaki City, which has no staff at all because all the food and drink comes from antiquated vending machines. We’re talking ramen, hot burgers, tempura, toasted sandwiches, udon, and more.

How weird is that? Er…not that weird, it turns out. The concept of a fully automated restaurant started in Berlin in the late 19th century and was perfected in the United States around the turn of the century (the first landing in New York’s Times Square in 1902). True story: automats used to be all over North America. They died out in the 1960s, killed by the rise of fast food restaurants.

Would we accept on in Vancouver? It might be a novelty at first, but the lack of oversight (no staff) would certainly prove prohibitive. As the video notes  -and our own health ministry would be quick to assert – people clean up after themselves in Japan, but they don’t over here. An attempt to revive the concept in New York City’s East Village in 2006 lasted only three years.