What comes to mind when you think of the old machines found in the corners of souvenir shops in tourist spots, not just Hakone or Izu, but everywhere? And if I add more information, that machine is making loud "thump! thump! thump!" sounds. Yes, it's the local souvenir medals. I always make one as soon as I find one. To be precise, the loud noise comes from the machine that engraves the date and name on the medal. For about 10 yen, it feels like the depth of memories expands, so I always give it a good thump and clatter.
I was born in 1991, and these machines have been around since my childhood. Even 20 years ago, they seemed quite old, like souvenirs from the Showa era at tourist destinations, so I never thought they would still exist in the Reiwa era. A certain IT consultant once said, "Now that information and content have become so commoditized, what truly has value are analog assets."
Actually, these local commemorative medals are manufactured by a company in Osaka called "Chapei Kogyo," and they are installed with such momentum that they seem to cover almost all tourist destinations nationwide.
Out of curiosity, I looked them up and found a corporate website that looked like it was made only with HTML, something you might expect from the early Heisei period. Hiroshi Abe's website was similar. On this site, you can check the locations of medal vending machines nationwide.
They even sell books to neatly collect the medals you've made. I want one of those.
Despite the website's appearance, their SNS follower count is huge, proving that analog assets hold tremendous power.
I came across a respectable person who shares the same hobbies and tastes as me: Jun Miura, the god of subculture.
Many people around me are also fans of Jun Miura, but what hooked me most was watching Teru-san TV, a YouTuber I deeply respect. Teru-san was car camping deep in the mountains (surprisingly, he cooks elaborate meals as if he were at home) and reading Jun Miura's books. The way he reveled in solitude was not just cool, but inspiring.
Watching Jun Miura's YouTube channel, what I found most interesting was the "Jun Miura Award," which unilaterally recognizes his "My Boom" for the year. He even creates shields and trophies, presents them to the recipients, and they send back comments, which is fantastic. I later learned that Jun Miura himself popularized the term "My Boom." That's truly amazing.
WAITER-U SHOP is a media outlet that proposes an urban lifestyle centered around camping. Collecting commemorative medals from tourist spots near campsites and making them a record of wonderful adventures sounds like fun, so I intend to make this my life's work.
