A pineapple is quite a bit larger than a lemon or lime or even an orange. Tougher/more fibrous too. So the tool I normally use for cooking quantities of citrus juices - a manual wooden reamer - wouldn't work (I have an electric reamer to make larger quantities of juice - like orange juice). If I wanted to make fresh pineapple juice occasionally for drinks - I'd just buy some fresh pineapple slices - cut them up - toss them in a blender and liquify them. Then strain the fiber off. A juice extractor would of course work better. But most people have blenders in their houses - and don't have juice extractors.

Here's a video showing the difference:

http://www.abarabove.com/juice-pineapple/

If I were planning to make and use large quantities of any kind of juice frequently - I'd buy a juicer (the one shown in the video is about $110 on Ebay in the US).

Are pineapples really cheap in Japan? The cheapest whole ones here are in Costco and cost $4. The cheapest peeled and cored are at a local super market - sometimes on sale for $3 but normally $5. Reason I ask is I can't see getting much juice out of a pineapple using the plastic juicer mentioned in the original post (even with something like a lemon - a reamer is more efficient). And it would be uncomfortable getting the juice from an unpeeled pineapple as well (pineapples aren't smooth like citrus fruits). Guess if you're paying $20 for a drink in a bar - it doesn't matter if the restaurant is paying $4 for a pineapple for a few drinks - but doing that at home doesn't seem very cost effective to me. Robyn