Big money. It’s won and lost across the Land of the Rising Sun amid seas of sound, flashing lights and clouds of cigarette smoke. Gambling is technically illegal in Japan, but where there’s a will there’s ... pachinko!
A pachinko machine is a gambling device combining the elements of a pinball and a slot machine. Pachinko players use a knob to shoot small metal balls into a vertical pinball-like field. Varying the degree at which the knob is turned varies the speed at which the balls are launched. If the balls go into any of the scoring holes and gates on the field, the player wins more balls that they can continue to play the game with, or exchange for prizes or - ahem, money. Players can also win the opportunity to play slot machine inspired mini-games (that are displayed on a central screen) that can earn them multipliers, bonus balls and jackpots. Many pachinko machines have a cute or pop-cultural theme to keep patrons playing as long as possible and to attract people who wouldn’t ordinarily play pachinko. Pachinko prizes range from simple things like snack foods or pens, to bicycles, video game consoles and other high quality goods. As Japanese gambling laws prohibit the direct exchange of pachinko balls for cash, winning players are offered the option of receiving special “tokens” that can be exchanged for money at a window or kiosk that is in a separate location from the pachinko parlor.
The name, “pachinko” is a combination of the Japanese onomatopoeia “pachin,” indicative of the sound the metal balls make as they bounce around inside a pachinko machine, and “ko” a word to indicate and count balls and other small objects. In the early 19th century France standardized a precursor to pinball, a game known as “Bagatelle,” that saw players attempting to shoot marbles or ivory balls into pockets or holes on an inclined field. These quickly spread to the rest of Europe and to the United States. In the 1920s a Chicago company began manufacturing a bagatelle game for children under the brand names “Corinth Game” and “Corinthian Bagatelle.” Japan first imported these “Corinth Game” machines in 1924. Initially they were used at candy stores and festivals to give children a chance to win small candies and other prizes. When some intrepid festival stall operators and store owners began offering prizes like cigarettes and household items the game became popular among adults as well.
The first pachinko parlor opened in Aichi Prefecture’s Nagoya City in 1930. Initially known as a “gachinko hall,” a play on the aforementioned “pachin,” and “ko,” and the word “gonzo,” meaning fevered or frenzied, pachinko became an overnight sensation in 1936. The city of Kochi, on the Island of Shikoku, saw 35 pachinko parlors open in a 6 month period that year. War with China saw all of Japan’s pachinko parlors closed and dismantled in 1938. Pachinko reappeared after World War II in 1947, and the chance it offered to win money, household goods, tobacco and other things that were in limited supply after the war, combined with its inexpensive cost to play and its fun factor insured pachinko a quick return to popularity. Advancements in pachinko machine technology solidified its place in modern Japanese society. According to the Japan Gaming Business Association there were 10,993 pachinko parlors across Japan in 20151. The industry took in ¥23.23 trillion (about $232 billion US)2 in revenue that same year. The yakuza, Japan’s organized crime groups, used to have a strong influence in both pachinko and its associated exchange of prizes and money but dedicated work by the Japanese police since the 1960s has all but eliminated the yakuza influence in pachinko. Feeling adventurous and lucky?
A few games of pachinko might have you calling it “ca-tching-ko.”
Works cited:
1. http://www.nichiyukyo.or.jp/gyoukaiDB/s6.php
2. http://www.nichiyukyo.or.jp/gyoukaiDB/m6.php (Japanese)
Works consulted:
https://www.jappleng.com/culture/articles/jp-videogames/263/history-and-everything-that-is-pachinko
http://www.japanvisitor.com/japanese-culture/culture-pachinko
http://pachinkoplanet.com/zencart/index.php?main_page=page&id=2
http://pachinko-shiryoshitsu.jp/en/structure-industry/history/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pachinko
https://vintagepachinko.wordpress.com/major-pachinko-machine-designs/
http://www.allforcasino.com/en/topic/27/history-of-pachinko
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2065.html
https://www.tofugu.com/japan/pachinko/
http://okinawa.stripes.com/news/pachinko-japan
Reed, Daniel J. (2010). "How the Game Works". Dan's Pachinko Data Page. self-published. Retrieved 19 August 2016. http://faculty.ccp.edu/faculty/dreed/Campingart/pachinko/game.htm
Reed, D. J. "A Little About the Machines". Dan's Pachinko Data Page. Retrieved 19 August 2016. http://faculty.ccp.edu/faculty/dreed/Campingart/pachinko/about.htm
Plotz, David (4 November 2008). "Japan Society, New York – Pachinko Nation". Japansociety.org. Retrieved 19 August 2016. http://www.japansociety.org/pachinko_nation
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