Japan’s Last Condom Machine Repairers Face an Enduring Decline
Atsushi Takahashi, a veteran repairman at Sagami Rubber Industries, tends to aging condom vending machines in Kanagawa Prefecture. Once numbering 30,000 nationwide, these machines have dwindled to a fraction of their peak as retail habits shift toward drugstores and online platforms, leaving a small team to maintain the disappearing infrastructure.