Cat paw button vending machine debuts in Japan to celebrate Cat Day

How could anyone resist the urge to press these buttons?

Japanese drink vending machines are always a welcome sight, what with the wondrous assortment of liquid refreshment waiting inside of them. Even by those standards, though, Suntory has created a vending machine that’s poised to put particularly big smiles on the faces of everyone who sees it.

In Japanese, cats don’t say “meow.” They say “nyao,” which is written in hiragana as にゃお. By itself, that very first character, に, is read ni, which is also the Japanese word for “two.” The end result: in Japan, February 2 (2-2) is Cat Day, so that’s the date on which Suntory is debuting its feline-themed Paw Pad Vending Machine.

The vending machine is fitted with cosmetic cat ears at the top of the unit, but the real cuteness is revealed when you go in for a closer look and see that the central cluster of buttons are shaped like adorable cat paw pads!

Obviously, you’ll want to press them, and that desire will only become stronger when you notice that all drinks inside the Paw Pad Vending Machine are priced at only 22 yen (US$0.17). And the temptation rises to triple-tier status if you’re a pun-loving linguist, as the written designation for warm has been changed from atatakai to anyanyakai, and for cold drinks from tsumetai to tsumedokitai (tsumedoki being the Japanese word for a cat’s scratching post or pad).

▼ つめどきた～い = tsumedokitai

As you might have guessed from the extremely generous prices, the Paw Pad Vending Machine is a limited-time thing. Suntory is only putting one into operation, located outside the second-floor entrance to the Cutlery House at Suntory World Headquarters in Tokyo’s Minato Ward, where it’ll be in operation from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Cat Day (February 22) only. Now that they’ve got the design work done, though, hopefully we’ll see the paw pad buttons make appearances on other Suntory vending machines in the future.

Vending machine information
Paw Pad Vending Machine / 肉球自販機
Location: Tokyo-to, Minato-ku, Daiba 2-3-3, in front of Suntory World Headquarters, in front of Cutlery House 2nd floor entrance
東京都港区台場２丁目３−３ サントリーワールドヘッドクォーターズ 2階カトラリーハウス前

Source, images: PR Times
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