I had been in Japan for about 3 weeks and had completely run out of money. I couldn’t get a flight home for another 4 days (at least then I’d get free airplane food!) and didn’t know what to do. So, naturally, I took my last 100 yen and dropped it in a pachinko game (like a slot machine in the U.S.) And I won! Collecting the $ was a bit dodgy – it’s actually illegal for them to pay cash and I didn’t want tinned pineapple or plastic flowers – but in the end I got just over $400. With that I was even able to buy some small souvenirs and gifts for the friends and family.