Japanese Schoolgirl Watch: Coin-Op Aerobics

Exercising is a problem for Tokyo gals. Manga club meetings and cram school fill up their free time, and there's no money for a gym membership after paying for cell phone bills and Pocky snacks. No wonder conbini fitness is hot. Taking its name from the Japanese word for convenience store, these health outlets offer coin-op workout stations for impulse exercising. The contraptions' foot pads churn up and down and back and forth at up to 1,560 times per minute. (One 500 yen coin — about $4.10 — buys 10 minutes.) Maintaining your balance while you shake supposedly has an aerobic effect, though users never break a sweat. "I love that I don't even have to change clothes," says 17-year-old Midori Nishioka as she bounces on a conbini machine in Osaka. And in case gals are worried about pervs ogling their jiggle, many of the clubs are ladies-only or feature privacy partitions.