Free Food For The Taking? Nope! It’s A Japanese Honor System Shop
If you were selling stuff, would you just leave that stuff on the side of the road with a sign saying “Unmanned Sales” and a tin can to put the money in? No?
Well, they do that in Japan. I’m not sure if they do it in the big cities, but out here in the boonies where I live, it’s a common practice.
You’ll see these shops if you pay attention when walking the backstreets of small towns. They usually sell home grown vegetables and fruits. Who needs vending machines when you can just trust people not to steal?
The unmanned shop in the photo was selling satoimo AKA taro, some peppers, and it looks like they were out of persimmons (if I’m reading the kanji correctly).
Honor is a very nice algorithm. Many bugs though in the human implementation
Same thing in my place but they do this on the main road..they usually sell fruits and hog meat grilled...
we live in such a trusting country :)
by the way, you read it correctly! they were out of persimmons!
That's simply awesome! Would it work in cities though? :/
ummm big city like tokyo, l don't think it will :p
Thanks! I figured it was persimmons, but the I’ve never studied that kanji, and it’s written a little differently on the sign than in the dictionary.
Absolutely wonderful! I LOVE it!
I used to live in a very big city. We used to travel out to the rural areas where there were lots of farms. Many of them had honor systems with the fruit and vegetable stands. There were some farms where we'd go out into the field, pick our own fruits and vegetables, weigh and bag them ourselves, then leave the money in a jar. Lol. We even had to make change sometimes. It was sooooo much fun doing it with our children as a family outing.
There's so much personal value in these kind of activities. People who live in urban areas should travel to rural areas for this type of experience, and feel the charm of the environment. I do not think this type of system would work well in most urban areas. The honor system is a gift of the heart.
Thanks for reminding me of a bright spot in my past. I upvote and follow you now.
Yeah, I think here a lot of people travel to rural areas to see the temples and go hiking, etc., and there are also a lot of farms like that where you can do the picking. Glad my post did that for you.
Until a few years ago we had that too in rural Germany. It was common practice to just build up a stand and put fruits, vegetables, flowers, honey or sometimes wood there plus a tin to put in the money. That's now gone. Also gone is that people don't lock up their homes. Thank you Merkel. Never allow useless migrants into your country. Never!
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STOPThere's something kind of like this that I pass by every day on my way to work. Someone is selling picnic tables with just a sign that says "$40 Tables".
Idk if they have a box or can for the money because I've never had the time to stop but they're a big item so I guess it's less likely for someone to come along and just take them...
Yeah, that seems like a high risk operation without a high profit. It would have to be a somewhat stupid thief.
We have farm egg sales like this where I live. People can drive past and steal but I'm guessing they don't do so often enough to stop people selling this way.
Funny, there are farm egg sales here too, but actually they’re in vending machines.
Actually, I've seen similar trusting self-help fruit and vegetable stands in parts of Kentucky, Tennessee, and Texas. They only seem to appear on small farm roads that are used mainly by "locals", however.
Sounds like the same thing. I guess it’s not Japan then, just something that happens in rural areas anywhere. Cool.
I saw this style in Nongkhai a few times! The villagers just left their bananas on the table beside the road with a sign for the price. Sometimes, there are other fruits as well. But these are the exceptions, not the norms as in the old days!
Cheers.
Nice. I’ve never seen that in Thailand. I love the fruit shops along the highway outside of Chiang Rai that sell the cheap homemade wine. I always pick up a bottle when I pass by.
Wow! vino! Don't drink while driving!!
Must be really good! Home made wine. Wish we had some in Esan. :))
Nope, don’t drink and drive. You might spill your drink. That’s alcohol abuse.