How Many Vending Machines Tall Is Mt. Fuji? | Scale Side by Side #01
Short answer
- With a standard vending machine (1.83 m) as the ruler, Mt. Fuji is about 2,000 vending machines tall.
- The lineup runs from the Great Buddhas and Tokyo's towers to the world's big mountains — and one mountain measured from the ocean floor.
- Mountain widths and spacing are compressed for clarity; every height is at the same scale.
Video
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Explained
In the video
- 0:00How tall is a vending machine?
- 0:25How tall are the Great Buddhas?
- 0:52How do Tokyo's towers (and Dubai's) compare?
- 1:42How many vending machines tall is Mt. Fuji?
- 2:30How does Fuji compare to the world's mountains?
- 3:23Where do we measure from?
- 4:14What if everything is at the same scale?
- 4:39What should we line up next?
Every tall thing in Japan, lined up at the same scale — measured in vending machines (1.83 m each). From the Great Buddha of Nara to Tokyo Skytree, Mt. Fuji, Everest... and even mountains under the sea.
Heights compared
We compare height, in meters (m). Mountains are measured from sea level; for Mauna Kea and Nishinoshima, we also list the height from the seafloor. Values are rounded as in the video. Values marked "(estimate)" vary between sources or with how they are measured.
| Object | Height | Type of value |
|---|---|---|
| Vending machine (our ruler) | 1.83 m | Height of Suntory's standard full-size model (1,830 mm) |
| Adult | About 1.7 m | Reference value chosen for comparison |
| Great Buddha of Nara (Todaiji Temple, seated) | About 15 m (estimate) | Rounded; sources range from about 14.7 m to 14.98 m |
| Ushiku Great Buddha (Ibaraki, near Tokyo; including pedestal) | 120 m | A 100 m statue on a 20 m pedestal |
| Azabudai Hills Mori JP Tower (Tokyo) | 325 m | Published figure |
| Tokyo Tower | 333 m | Official website |
| Tokyo Skytree | 634 m | Official website (highest point) |
| Burj Khalifa (Dubai) | 828 m | Published figure |
| Mount Fuji | 3,776 m | Japan's national survey (GSI) gives 3,776.12 m |
| Mount Kita (Japan's second-highest peak) | 3,193 m | Published figure |
| Matterhorn (Alps) | 4,478 m | Published figure |
| Mount Kilimanjaro (Africa) | 5,895 m | Published figure |
| Denali (North America) | 6,190 m | Published figure |
| Mount Everest | 8,848.86 m | 2020 China–Nepal survey; the narration rounds it to about 8,849 m |
| Mauna Kea (Hawaiʻi), above sea level | 4,207 m | Published figure |
| Mauna Kea (Hawaiʻi), from the seafloor | About 10,000 m (estimate) | Varies with how it is measured; at least 9,330 m in the source |
| Nishinoshima (Ogasawara Islands, far south of Tokyo), from the seafloor | About 4,000 m (estimate) | The source gives about 4,000 m, including the part above water |
| Nishinoshima (Ogasawara Islands, far south of Tokyo), above sea level | About 200 m | As of 2020 |
In the video, mountain widths and the spacing between objects are compressed for clarity; all heights are to the same scale. Azabudai Hills Mori JP Tower, completed in 2023, was Japan's tallest building when the video was made. Torch Tower (about 385 m), due in fiscal 2027, is set to take that title.
What this episode shows
- Measured in vending machines 1.83 m tall, Mount Fuji (3,776 m) is about 2,000 machines high (3,776 ÷ 1.83 ≈ 2,063).
- Next to the world's mountains, even two Mount Fujis stacked up are still about 1,300 m short of Everest.
- A mountain's height depends on where you measure from. Mauna Kea rises 4,207 m above sea level, but about 10,000 m from the ocean floor, which is more than Everest's height above sea level.
Shorts
Sources
Where the facts and numbers in the video and on this page come from.
- Suntory, "Standard Type" vending machines (in Japanese) (Height of 1,830 mm, used as our 1.83 m ruler)suntory.co.jp/softdrink/jihanki/vending-machine/stand…
- Wikipedia, Great Buddha of Todaiji (in Japanese) (Height of the Great Buddha of Nara, about 14.7 m)ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/東大寺の大仏
- Wikipedia, Ushiku Daibutsu (in Japanese) (Total height of 120 m: a 100 m statue on a 20 m pedestal)ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/牛久大仏
- Wikipedia, Azabudai Hills Mori JP Tower (in Japanese) (Height of 325 m, completed in June 2023)ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/麻布台ヒルズ森JPタワー
- Wikipedia, Tokyo Torch (in Japanese) (Torch Tower, 385 m above ground, due for completion in fiscal 2027)ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/東京トーチ
- Tokyo Tower official website (in Japanese) (Height of 333 m)tokyotower.co.jp
- Tokyo Skytree official website (in Japanese) (Height of 634 m at its highest point)tokyo-skytree.jp
- Wikipedia, Burj Khalifa (Height of 828 m)en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burj_Khalifa
- Wikipedia, Mount Fuji (in Japanese) (Elevation of 3,776 m; the highest point is 3,776.12 m in a survey by GSI, Japan's national mapping agency)ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/富士山
- Wikipedia, Mount Kita (in Japanese) (Elevation of 3,193 m)ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/北岳
- Wikipedia, Matterhorn (Elevation of 4,478 m)en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matterhorn
- Wikipedia, Mount Kilimanjaro (Elevation of 5,895 m)en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Kilimanjaro
- Wikipedia, Denali (Elevation of 6,190 m)en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denali
- Wikipedia, Mount Everest (Elevation of 8,848.86 m, from the 2020 China–Nepal survey)en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Everest
- Wikipedia, Mauna Kea (4,207 m above sea level. Its height from the seafloor varies with how it is measured and is at least 9,330 m)en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mauna_Kea
- Wikipedia, Nishinoshima (in Japanese) (About 4,000 m from the seafloor; about 200 m above sea level as of 2020)ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/西之島
- GSI Japan, GSI Tiles: elevation tiles (in Japanese) (3D shapes of Mount Fuji and Mount Kita in the video. Heights were matched to the values in the article's table; widths are compressed)maps.gsi.go.jp/development/ichiran.html
- Terrain Tiles (AWS Open Data) (3D shapes of the Matterhorn, Kilimanjaro, Denali, and Everest in the video. Underlying data: ArcticDEM; ETOPO1 from the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; 3DEP, GMTED2010, and SRTM from the U.S. Geological Survey; and EU-DEM from Copernicus. Heights were matched to the values in the article's table; widths are compressed)registry.opendata.aws/terrain-tiles
- Number of vending machines in Japan (JVMA)jvma.or.jp/information/information_3.html
- Population of Japan (Statistics Bureau of Japan)stat.go.jp/data/jinsui
- Todaiji (consecrated in 752)ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/東大寺
Voice, music, art
- Music (OpenTracks): “キューブスカイ” by かずち / “宇宙の神秘” by 田中芳典 / “海底の神殿” by KK / “星屑サラウンド” by 龍崎一
- Sound effects: synthesized in-house + Freesound (CC0) / Voices: Irodori-TTS, Kokoro
