Beverage makers, aiming to curb a decline in beverage sales via vending machines, have increased the number of machines that can interface in foreign languages.

The companies hope that by enabling more non-Japanese speakers to use the machines, they can take advantage of the recent increase in the number of foreign tourist shoppers and boost vending machine sales.

On Wednesday, Asahi Group Holdings Ltd. installed a device with a built-in tablet that recommends beverages to customers in English next to a vending machine near the Kaminarimon gate in Asakusa, Tokyo.

If, for example, a customer wants to drink coffee, he or she answers a series of voice-guided prompts from the device and a coffee beverage that meets his or her preference is displayed on the screen. The customer can then buy the coffee from the vending machine next to the device. A woman from Thailand said that she enjoyed choosing a beverage and felt the machine was convenient.

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In December, Coca-Cola (Japan) Co. introduced vending machines that use a QR code to send product information to customers' smartphones in 15 languages. The company plans to install 80,000 of the machines by 2020.