KOSHIGAYA, Saitama Pref. -- There is a bleep, pictures of cars pop up on two big screens, and meters show prices rising.

Every Saturday at Tokyo Ryutu Auction, a used car auction site, 1,000 men of all nationalities congregate to bid.

One recent afternoon, some were apparently transfixed by the screen images and were furiously pressing computerized bidding switches at their seats. Others handled calls from overseas clients on their cell phones.