A shrew jukebox

The background music is usually played by PC audio. The background music stops and there is silence while the customers leave their seats and stand in front of the jukebox, looking for the record they want to listen to. The dry sound of a hundred-yen coin falling out of the jukebox. Once the customer has found the song or record he or she wants to listen to, he or she selects a song or record from the triangular buttons lined up in front of the jukebox using a combination of letters and numbers, and presses the button with a “clang” to complete the selection. Customers sitting at the counter, drinking sake, are filled with anticipation as they wonder what kind of music will be played. When the music starts, they start chatting amongst themselves, as if relieved.

Some of the arcade games, including the slot
  machines he once collected, remain in the store.
 

Mr. Kasai has been involved with jukeboxes for more than 20 years. He started collecting slot machines, poker games, and arcade games because he liked them, and gradually he wanted a jukebox as well. At first, he had a hard time finding one. I started by looking for a place that I thought might carry them, and as I bought more and more, my network of contacts began to expand. If I was interested in something, I went to see it, and if I liked it, I bought it. Information came only through human connections. This was at a time when the Internet was not yet so widespread. There was only one way to get information, and that was the norm. The other party wanted to sell quickly, so we had the advantage. We would ask for a price and negotiate, saying, ‘Oh no, we can’t pay that much,’ and we often got a good price. One of the items he collected in this way is a jukebox from Wurlitzer of Germany, which is now in the store. It looks fairly simple, but it was a good one at the time I bought it. It was a one-owner box, and Mr. Kasai was the second owner. I think I paid a pretty good price for it. I think I paid a pretty good price for it. Nothing was broken, and it was the last of the tube amplifiers. It’s the last of the tube amplifiers, the last model that will be replaced by transistors in a little while.

The German manufacturer, Wurlitzer, is clearly engraved on this model. The triangular buttons below it are the selector.

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