1970 Jet Rocket - ジェット・ロケット by セガ (Sega)

Name: Jet Rocket - ジェット・ロケット
Year: 1970 
Company: セガ (Sega)

from the side: these were very large and very heavy.

view inside shows the background being rotated on a belt system.

English flyer.  This game was sold internationally.

One year later, USA company Chicago Coin released Night Bomber, a game that copied liberally from Jet Rocket.  The curved cockpit bezel, the moulded cockpit outline, and the control stick all look similar, as does the side art.

1971 Night Bomber by Chicago Coin flyer

1971 Night Bomber by Chicago Coin flyer

The gameplay is also nearly identical:

Jet Rocket

Night Bomber

This video is in Finnish and shows the internal operations of Jet Rocket:

And a Todd Tuckey video looking inside:

hat tip to Sega Retro, it appears two other USA companies also copies Jet Rocket.  Sega had sent an early prototype to the USA before their August 1970 release date, and Bally and Williams apparently had their clones out by December 1970:

1970 Flotilla by Williams

1970 Target Zero by Bally

~1937 日本大競馬場 (Japan big racecourse) [卓上競馬機 (tabletop horse racing machine)] by 日本娯楽機製作所 (Japan Amusement Machine Manufacturing)

Name: 日本大競馬場 (Japan big racecourse) / 卓上競馬機 (tabletop horse racing machine)

Year: ~1937

Company: 日本娯楽機製作所 (Japan Amusement Machine Manufacturing)

While the marquee on this machine reads 日本大競馬場 (Japan big racecourse) the catalogue lists it as 卓上競馬機 (tabletop horse racing machine).

This machine appears to not be an import, but a copy of 2 (very similar) Chas. Ahrens machines from the UK.

entry from the ~1937 catalogue

Transcription:

甲乙二人が一錢、入れてワン、ツー、スリーで同時にハンドルを廻せば腕の強きもの程早く決勝點へ着きます一種の競技機です

Machine translation:

It is a type of competition machine where two people put in one seat and turn the handle at the same time in one, two, three, and the stronger the arm, the faster it will reach the final spot.

There are two machines that this game is similar too, and both are built by Chas. Ahrens of the UK, both of which are very similar to each other: Huntsmans Derby and Greyhoud Racer.

1930 Huntsmans Derby by Chas. Ahrens
from Automatic Pleasures by Nic Costa

 

The 3 panel cabinet of the above machine is reflected in the cabinet design of the Japanese machine.  If we look at the playfields of each game, they all share the same spindly white gates, and are all played by two players competing by rapidly spinning their own.

The following pictures are taken from this thread on pennymachines.co.uk:

1925 Greyhound Racer by Ahrens

While Huntsmans Derby seems wider, the above Greyhound Racer model appears to have proportions similar to the Japanese machine.  But Greyhound Racer was also made in a larger cabinet, which is the same design as their Football game.

1925 Greyhound Racer by Ahrens

Details from the above machine give us a taste of what the Japanese game would look like:

Note the positions of the white gates in the Ahrens machine to the white gates on the Japanese machine:

~1937 驢馬嘶かせ (donkey braying) by 日本娯楽機製作所 (Japan Amusement Machine Manufacturing)

Name: 驢馬嘶かせ (donkey braying)

Year: ~1937

Company: 日本娯楽機製作所 (Japan Amusement Machine Manufacturing)

This machine appears to be a copy of the famous machine Donkey Bray by Exhibit Supply. I do not think this is an imported machine, but a mostly-faithful copy..

1928 Test Your Strength and make Donkey Bray by Exhibit Supply

plaque for an Exhibit Supply Donkey Bray machine

The Japanese machine seems very similar to the Exhibit Supply machine.  It is hard to see the details of the donkey face in the black and white reproduction, but it appears to be quite accurate to the original.  But many other things are different.

Analyzing from top-to-bottom: On the Japanese version the top circle is slightly larger, the donkey head sits near the bottom instead of the center, the plaque is replaced with a placard/instructions holder, the dial type + background + casing is different, there is no slogan text, the entire base and pull mech casing is different, and even the pull bar is different with the Japanese version having a center bar extending through it.

full entry from the ~1937 catalogue

Transcription:

一錢入れて前のハンを両手で引上ぐれば力程度を正面のゲージに押はし最高點に達したる時は驢馬が泣きます

Machine translation:

If you put a drop in and pull up the handle in front with both hands, the force will be pushed to the gauge in front, and when it reaches the highest point, the donkey will cry.

dial from an Exhibit Supply Donkey Bray machine

~1937 カ量計 (Physical strength meter) by 日本娯楽機製作所 (Japan Amusement Machine Manufacturing)

Name: カ量計 (Physical strength meter)

Year: ~1937

Company: 日本娯楽機製作所 (Japan Amusement Machine Manufacturing)

We cannot see the full marquee on the machine, but it probably says something like "体力ためし" (strength test).  If you look close at the marquee it does not seem like it is attached.  Could it have been added to the picture later?  The perspective seems incorrect:

this does not seem like the proper perspective for a marquee attached to the machine.
How much of this picture is accurate, and how much is a modified illustration?

This machine looks uncannily familiar to a number of other punching bag machines, but I do not believe it is an import.  The parts could have been imported, but many of the external details are very similar to other models without matching any of them precisely.

the machine as it appears in the ~1937 catalogue

Transcription:

是れは拳で打っ力を試す機械であります。錢入口へ一錢入れて「バツク」を引下げ之を上部の臺裏目常に力一杯叩き付けますと中央の計量機の針が腕力量を直ちに表示します力自慢の連中が我がちに競ふて試みる間に意外の利益があります

Machine Translation: 

This is a machine that tests your striking power with your fist. Put a coin into the inlet, pull down the bag, and hit the back of the top with all your might, and the needle on the central weighing machine will immediately display your physical strength. There are unexpected benefits between

This machine best resembles one specific model, The Mills Bag Punching Machine aka Deliver The Punch, by Mills Novelty from around 1903.

The Mills Bag Punching Machine aka Deliver The Punch, by Mills Novelty from around 1903

The Japanese machine showcases the same iconic curves at the top of the machine, though the Japanese machine's top is thicker.  The metal cage around the bag looks entirely unique on the Japanese version, and the punching bag pulls down much farther.  

The Japanese version has space for a large graphic and no other punching bag machine from that era had devoted that much space for an illustration.  The graphic itself looks somewhat familiar to the graphic seen on the Mills' dial:

detail of The Mills Bag Punching Machine

The dial on the Mills' machine is much higher.  On the Japanese version the dial does not look nearly as intricate.  The upper coin slot on the Mills' has migrated to beneath the dial on the Japanese version.

The cabinet-style panelling of the Mills machine is emulated very well on the Japanese machine.  

The Japanese model's support rods are curved, unlike any other prior model I have found, and as well the base is entirely unique.  It feels much more subtle when compared to the large curves of the Mills machine:

detail of The Mills Bag Punching Machine

Another classic machine from that era, when we contrast this next machine against the Japanese machine, it really highlights how much closer in details the Mills Novelty version is.

1910 Punch-A-Bag by International Mutoscope Reel Co

~1937 Liberty Bell Striker - 打力計 (beat force meter) [import, 1905] by International Mutoscope Reel Co

Name: Liberty Bell Striker - 打力計 (beat force meter)

Year: imported ~1937, originally 1905

Company: International Mutoscope Reel Co

 

This is how it appears in the ~1937 catalogue:

This machine appears to be an umodified import.

You can easily see the rod beneath the strikepad in the above picture.  Here is a closeup of that part of the mechanism:

I am unsure if this machine was made for an extended period of time.  At 32 years, it is certainly the oldest machine I have seen in a game machine catalogue