TOKYO, April 26 -- From post offices and parks to stations and even the summit of Mount Fuji, Japan's vending machines are ubiquitous. But with the rapid pace of inflation cooling demand for their drinks, operators are being forced to rethink the business.

Last month beverage giant DyDo Group Holdings announced it would remove about 20,000 vending machines - around seven percent of their stock nationwide - by January 2027, in order to "reconstruct a profitable network".

Pokka Sapporo Food & Beverage, based in Nagoya, also said in March it would sell its 40,000-machine operation to Osaka-based Lifedrink Co.

"The strength of the vending machine business has been to sell at list prices," a spokeswoman for Pokka Sapporo told AFP.

But "a r...