Wait wait wait, so that photo of the vending machine in the middle of nowhere isn't a set up by the photographer? I thought he put the machine there, along with a generator behind it, just to take the photo!
haha, I've just realized I know you. Will have to ask you where it is sometime. Small World.
Close to where we used to live, by the bus stop in Hiratsuka, when I used to come back at night, the vending machine was brighter than the public lights.
It's actually quite enjoyable, as you get to run your fingers through warm rice pouring out from the machine.
The first time I saw one, I was probably ~6 years old and my grandfather stopped by on our way home to mill some of the rice he had grown. I was confused since growing up in the States, I had never seen non-white rice until that point.
I heard that story about 20 years ago.
The mountain is only officially open for a short time each year. I think most of the employees at the huts and other facilities are college students taking summer jobs.