An interesting history to an innocuous piece of daily life in Japan: the humble karuton (change tray).

Pretty much everywhere I posed [the question about the origins of the change tray], I got responses like, “Ehh, nandarō!?” (“Gee, what are they called?”). Or, “Shojikina tokoro, kangaeta koto wa nai.” (“To be honest, I’ve never given them any thought.”) People seem to pay into the trays every day, yet never pay them a second thought.