Jeff Yang's Asian Pop Diary: Live in Tokyo: "Indeed, some of the coolest devices aren't particularly futuristic at all. In Japan's elaborate coin-op culture, everything from underwear to pornography to ramen noodles is available for purchase through largely unsupervised public vending machines. The only reason coin-ops survive in the United States is that the items being sold -- candy, cigarettes, soda -- are so cheap that the reward for breaking into them isn't worth the effort it requires. "

hmm... wacky stuff!