A customer buying a meal ticket from a vending machine at Goumen Maruko ramen shop in Tokyo. — ©2024 The New York Times Company
THE vending machine at Hiroshi Nishitani’s Tokyo ramen restaurant has been reliable for a decade.
Customers feed it money, and it prints out their orders while he makes fresh noodles in the kitchen. The food is served within minutes once the customer delivers the order to the pair of cooks at the counter.
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