Damn, I've only recently started actually getting into Junji Ito stuff, but I've always loved pinball. There's a lot of interesting details in that initial post that I'd love to know more about.
Sega had a long history in pinball, but this would have been about 2 years after they sold everything off to George Stern. I assume there could have been some crossover/goodwill between the two groups though and possibly Stern just sent the machine along as a prototype or as an internal promotional piece. Still, Stern is HQed out of the United States so I assume if there was one of these at Tokyo Joypolis, it's likely not the only one and there's at least one more rattling somewhere around the States (which seems to be the case from some of the comments here). I'd kill to know where one is today - anyone have any experiences newer than 2008?
It's mostly intriguing since I don't think I know of Ito having much video game (much less pinball) involvement at all.
I figured I'd try and see if I could find any info on Mr. Gray, as he seemed to be a behind-closed-doors player in all this. There's a chance it could be Chris Gray (of Boulder Dash fame). He would certianly have been a bit of a power player in the space at the time (though this was past his designer hayday so it's maybe a long shot. Here's an interview with him from 1990 - no explicit pinball/Sega connections though: https://archive.gamehistory.org/item/e09bc562-f5bb-405b-a43a-2c8e6c6b1024/pdf?to...
BogusMeat's memory of a sort of VR headset in which you played a virtual pinball machine sounds like something else entirely. Maybe an evolution of the original analog concept? Either way, I'm dying to know more. Can't wait for the eventual post in a year or so of someone tracking one of these down in some half-forgotten warehouse in the Midwest or something.