Only within the last few years has Japan started to allow the general public to pump their own gas. I think the whole issue revolved around safety and the perceived danger of pumping gas. If my memory serves me correctly, I don’t think I ever saw a self service gas stand here in Tokyo prior to maybe 1998. All gas stands were full service.
As to the do-hickey - some self service stands here have them and some do not. Most of the self service gas stations are automated by computers that require you to input how much gas you want to pump - in liters or amount of money you want to spend. Furthermore, lately I am seeing fully automated stations that don’t even have an attendant on duty after certain hours. You pull in, input the type of gas you want, insert your money or swipe your credit card, and pump gas. Pretty cool - but I wonder about safety sometimes too.
All of the gas stations I’ve ever seen in Mexico are this way, too. I don’t know if this is a safety thing with them, though, as much as an employment opportunity.
The services, such as the windscreen cleaning, make me really miss full serve here in the 'States. I’ve been told that here in Michigan, though, all you have to do is sound your horn, wave your handicap permit, and you at least get your gasoline pumped for you at self-serve prices. The few stations that do have full-serve charge ridiculously for the priviledge. Just for fun, maybe I’ll come in one day, every 10 minutes, just to buy a $1.00 worth of gas at a time. I can see paying up to $2.00 flat-rate for full-serve (especially on a windy, cold day), but $0.60 for a 20-gallon tank! Yikes! If a gas station followed my idea, boy, they’d have at least one loyal customer that never goes anywhere else.
I went through 10 different midwest/mountain states (Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Iowa) this summer and every gas station I stopped at (at least 2 in each state) had these catches.
Here in NE Fla., for a long time, no Self-Serve pumps had “do-hickeys.” Lately, however, some are starting to reappear. I like the convenience of being able to wash the windshield and rear window (WHEN THE IDIOT ATTENDANT REMEMBERS TO PUT WATER/SOLUTION IN THE BUCKET THING) while the pump pumps. Since I have small cars, with small tanks, I gotta work fast.