This may seem way off topic, but - does anyone know anything about Japanese "one-arm bandit" slot machines? I have been trying to help a friend who bought one at a garage sale. There is no nameplate data or any other indication of what voltage and frequency it is made to be operated on. Any ideas?

gambling in japan is illegal.. so unless it was made in japan youve got a slot machine.. i thought you were at least talking about pachinko

Thank you for the compliment,you give me too much credit.

The Japanese made such machines for a variety of markets,most of the ones I have seen resemble the German ones and operate from a low voltage transformer,look inside of take pics of the electronics and email'em to me.

Many,most in fact were thus equipped with variable tap transformers which could accept 220,110 and in some cases 90 volts.

In such machines there is generally an input voltage selector switch,usually near the transformer input,unfortunately you must remove the machine from the outer case thru the rear so the chassis can be seen on the bottom,are you brave enough?Send me a pic anyway,maybe I can help talk you thru disassembly.

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Are you refering to the Pachislo slot machine on cruise ships? Similar to American except they have three buttons to stop the individual reels and they use 25m or 30mm tokens. Whole lot of them available at decent prices (I even saw them for sale at Sam's Club!) Lot of different manufactures and there is some information available out on the web. Just search with the word "pachislo" and then the name of the machine.

I think the three button machines may be an evolution of the one my friend has. His has a lever you pull on the right side of the cabinet. I searched on Pachislo, but so far I only see machines that are much more modern. I will get some pictures and post them.