Name: Robot-fried chicken.

Flavours: Original, red and hokkaido cheese.

Location: The TOC Osaki branch of Lawson.

The where branch of what? Lawson is a giant convenience store chain that originated in Ohio, but is now more or less entirely Japanese.

OK ... TOC Osaki is a building in the Shinagawa district of Tokyo, near Lawson’s headquarters.

I see. And they have a robot frying chicken, have they? Actually they have. More precisely, it makes instant Karaage-kun.

Never mind being precise. Just tell me what you’re talking about. I’ll try. Karaage is a very popular Japanese chicken dish, usually deep-fried in spiced batter.

Yum. And the Lawson stores sell its own, cheap brand called Karaage-kun. It makes about 2bn pieces every year.

OK, that’s a lot. Karaage-kun features a cartoon chicken on the box, and Katy Perry loves it.

Those are important facts. Thank you. But Lawson says it struggles to find enough staff to make Karaage-kun in stores, so it has built a robot to do it. This machine will be working at the TOC Osaki branch until 28 December.

So it’s working trial shifts? Essentially.

And does it use advanced biomechanics to delicately prepare each piece of chicken with dexterous robotic precision? Not quite. You should probably dial down your expectations a bit. It’s basically a metal box with a plastic rooster’s comb stuck to the top.

Oh. You go up to the machine, take a card to reflect which of the three flavours you would like, exchange the card for a paper box with human staff at the till, pay 216 yen (about £1.50), unfold the box, scan it, put it into the machine and then wait about a minute while it is filled with freshly fried chicken.

That seems needlessly elaborate. But ultimately delicious.

Why not just press a button, swipe your card and eat some chicken, instead of all this business with boxes and waiting at the till? I’m not sure. Although something about a cute cartoon chicken using advanced technology to make me go through an elaborate social ritual sounds distinctly Japanese.

I guess. And this robot sounds like the sort of thing I’d worship on my knees when I get hungry at 2am. Yes. Although the robot stops working in the evening, even though the store is open 24 hours.

Robots will never take over the world with that attitude. Personally, I’m relieved.

Do say: “I’ll be back ... to try the other delicious flavours.”

Don’t say: “Here it is, brain size of a planet, and we ask it to cook chicken.”