# Live Crab Vending Machine **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 24, 2010, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/live-crab-vending-machine/558182 "2010-10-24T13:31:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![JoelUpchurch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f05b48/32.png) [@JoelUpchurch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoelUpchurch)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2010, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/live-crab-vending-machine/558182/1 "2010-10-24T13:31:59Z")
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQgJ5h4XJHY](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQgJ5h4XJHY) I think this qualifies as the weirdest thing sold from a vending machine. ---
**Author:** ![kidneyfailure](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9f8e36/32.png) [@kidneyfailure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidneyfailure)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2010, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/live-crab-vending-machine/558182/2 "2010-10-24T13:49:56Z")
> [@JoelUpchurch](#): > > I think this qualifies as the weirdest thing sold from a vending machine. Weirder than the used schoolgirl panties vending machines in Japan? I dunno… ---
**Author:** ![pudytat72](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@pudytat72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pudytat72)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2010, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/live-crab-vending-machine/558182/3 "2010-10-24T13:57:55Z")
I think the used schoolgirls underwear being sold in vending machines in Japan is a bit more weird. It’s called Burusera, and also includes sale of urine, saliva, sanitary products. \*\* kidneyfailure\*\* beat me to it, I got distracted looking at the sites that verify this is still going on even though it was banned in 2004 ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2010, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/live-crab-vending-machine/558182/4 "2010-10-24T14:02:32Z")
> [@pudytat72](#): > > I think the used schoolgirls underwear being sold in vending machines in Japan is a bit more weird. They probably sometimes contain crabs too. ---
**Author:** ![pudytat72](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@pudytat72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pudytat72)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2010, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/live-crab-vending-machine/558182/5 "2010-10-24T14:11:20Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > They probably sometimes contain crabs too. wonder what those crabs taste like. ---
**Author:** ![Amp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Amp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amp)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2010, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/live-crab-vending-machine/558182/6 "2010-10-24T14:15:43Z")
> [@pudytat72](#): > > wonder what those crabs taste like. Fish. ---
**Author:** ![kidneyfailure](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9f8e36/32.png) [@kidneyfailure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidneyfailure)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2010, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/live-crab-vending-machine/558182/7 "2010-10-24T14:20:22Z")
> [@pudytat72](#): > > it was banned in 2004 Y’know what I find interesting? That it was apparently a big enough problem that somebody said, “Fuck, we need to outlaw the sale of schoolgirls’ used panties. I mean, seriously, we need to put a stop to that shit.” The mind boggles. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2010, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/live-crab-vending-machine/558182/8 "2010-10-24T14:28:24Z")
> [@JoelUpchurch](#): > > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQgJ5h4XJHY](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQgJ5h4XJHY) > > I think this qualifies as the weirdest thing sold from a vending machine. That’s cool! How do you eat a live crab, though? Especially in that place? No way to bash him open, no way to cook them? ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2010, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/live-crab-vending-machine/558182/9 "2010-10-24T15:05:31Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > That’s cool! How do you eat a live crab, though? Especially in that place? No way to bash him open, no way to cook them? They didn’t show you the vending machine 50 yards away that sells mallets, Zippo lighters and melted butter. ---
**Author:** ![Renee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/renee/32/287_2.png) [@Renee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renee)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2010, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/live-crab-vending-machine/558182/10 "2010-10-24T15:38:15Z")
Before I even opened this thread, I knew this was going to be in Japan. I still don’t get it, though. Are you supposed to eat it live? Keep it as a pet? What? ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2010, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/live-crab-vending-machine/558182/11 "2010-10-24T15:47:35Z")
Lucky for **njtt** & **pudytat72** in that I didn’t have any liquids in my mouth at the time… 😛 ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2010, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/live-crab-vending-machine/558182/12 "2010-10-24T17:05:59Z")
> [@kidneyfailure](#): > > Y’know what I find interesting? That it was apparently a big enough problem that somebody said, “Fuck, we need to outlaw the sale of schoolgirls’ used panties. I mean, seriously, we need to put a stop to that shit.” The mind boggles. It’s got to be symptomatic of surviving two nuclear blasts. The post-apocalyptic world is far more likely to remind us of Japan than Mad Max, I think. ---
**Author:** ![pudytat72](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@pudytat72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pudytat72)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2010, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/live-crab-vending-machine/558182/13 "2010-10-24T17:14:36Z")
> [@Amp](#): > > Fish. nah, they taste like chicken ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2010, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/live-crab-vending-machine/558182/14 "2010-10-24T17:30:11Z")
I can top the crab machine, and right here in the good ole U.S. of A. You know those toy cranes games, where you move the claw around and then drop it and hope it picks up a stuffed animal? I’ve seen one of those over a lobster tank. [Video proof](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwxz2iwyYKk). And contrary to the narration, the one I saw was in Boston. ---
**Author:** ![RandomLetters](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8edcca/32.png) [@RandomLetters](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandomLetters)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2010, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/live-crab-vending-machine/558182/15 "2010-10-24T17:40:21Z")
> [@Renee](#): > > Before I even opened this thread, I knew this was going to be in Japan. > > I still don’t get it, though. Are you supposed to eat it live? Keep it as a pet? What? Actually, the vending machine is in China. It is just a Japanese news crew doing the video. ---
**Author:** ![JoelUpchurch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f05b48/32.png) [@JoelUpchurch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoelUpchurch)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2010, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/live-crab-vending-machine/558182/16 "2010-10-24T17:53:28Z")
> [@kidneyfailure](#): > > Weirder than the used schoolgirl panties vending machines in Japan? I dunno… If it was dead food, I would agree with you, but live food? Apparently, even the Japanese thought it was a little weird. BTW, the report was from Japan, but the vending machine is being sold in China. If you look during the video, the currency being used has a picture of Mao Zedong on it. I assume that they would just take the crabs home to prepare them. I’m not into seafood myself, but a store near my house had a good price on live blue crabs, so I sometimes would be asked to pick some up when I was going to their house. ---
**Author:** ![Lightlystarched](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Lightlystarched](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightlystarched)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2010, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/live-crab-vending-machine/558182/17 "2010-10-25T00:53:21Z")
Those little crabs, all stuck in their individual sealed pods, still alive. Its like The Matrix for crustaceans. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2010, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/live-crab-vending-machine/558182/18 "2010-10-25T01:41:31Z")
> [@RandomLetters](#): > > Actually, the vending machine is in China. It is just a Japanese news crew doing the video. Thank god. I was going crazy saying to myself “It’s China!” (For example: note the renmimbi sliding into the slot.) “But … that person is JAPANESE! But … that person is CHINESE? WTF, can’t I even tell the difference?” Your post has saved me from feeling very ashamed. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2010, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/live-crab-vending-machine/558182/19 "2010-10-25T01:44:23Z")
> [@Lightlystarched](#): > > Those little crabs, all stuck in their individual sealed pods, still alive. > > Its like The Matrix for crustaceans. \*\ \* ---
**Author:** ![Elysium](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3be4f8/32.png) [@Elysium](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elysium)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2010, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/live-crab-vending-machine/558182/20 "2010-10-25T19:23:06Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > I can top the crab machine, and right here in the good ole U.S. of A. You know those toy cranes games, where you move the claw around and then drop it and hope it picks up a stuffed animal? I’ve seen one of those over a lobster tank. > > [Video proof](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwxz2iwyYKk). And contrary to the narration, the one I saw was in Boston. Wow, I can’t believe that exists! Where in town did you see this magical claw game? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/live-crab-vending-machine/558182.md?page=2)