SEMBOKU, Akita -- From kimchi to insects, Japan's love affair with vending machines continues, and at a shinkansen station here, one machine is gaining popularity for another unusual offering -- bear meat.

The vending machine is installed near the entrance to the Tazawako Ichi local product shop near JR Tazawako Station, where the Akita Shinkansen and other trains stop. The meat of locally captured wild bears is mainly purchased by bullet train passengers, and there have apparently also been inquiries from people in the Kanto region around Tokyo who want to buy it by mail order.

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