On a business trip to Kobe, Fred and I went out for a drink. I wondered aloud if there were any statistics on pachinko fatalities. I was talking about the small children who suffered and died because of their parents’ gambling problems, not the gamblers who played pachinko. Immediately understanding exactly what I was talking about, Fred gave a mournful sigh. Every year at least several of the babies and small children left in cars parked in parking lots with the engine running and the air conditioning on die from the summer heat. Eventually, the car engine stops, the air conditioning stops, temperatures in the car rise to over 100, and the heat kills the children. There is also other news of fatal accidents almost every year, when some parent leaves children alone to go and gamble on the pachinko machines. Sometimes the children die in fires and sometimes it is something else.
Fred said that he had not seen any statistics but that it was not that many, especially compared to the hundreds of thousands who died from smoking and drinking and the tens of thousands who died in car accidents. I said that was true, but it just defies reason to leave your children like that. He agreed, but stated that gambling is an addiction.
Pachinko started out as a pinball game in the United States but never became popular. Introduced to Japan, the game was modified and spread like wildfire. Basically, the idea is to shoot little balls into the right places and get more little balls. One reason that pachinko spread so quickly in Japan is that it is gambling. Money is not given out at pachinko parlors, just prizes. Near almost every pachinko parlor, however, is someplace where you can convert your pachinko winnings to cash. Research has shown that when gambling is illegal, many people gamble and approximately 1% of the population have a serious gambling problem. When gambling becomes legal, more people gamble, and the number of people with serious gambling problems doubles.
Parents in Japan who become addicted to the game can’t control themselves and some children pay the price with their lives.
He challenged me to think of a single modern country without any problems. I could not. Japan may have problems with pachinko fatalities, deaths from overwork and more. Still, these problems pale when compared with gun deaths and drug problems in America.
I asked Fred if he had ever played pachinko. Fred said he had never played pachinko and asked me if I had. Remembering my single foray into a dark and smoky pachinko parlor, I nodded my head and said I tried it once.
I remembered going into a dark smoke-filled room where grim-faced men sat in dark clothes chain smoking and shooting balls into machines. The image was sadder than blank-faced senior citizens feeding slot machines in Reno. The room was full of noise of pachinko machines and incredibly loud music. I stepped up to a machine to buy some balls, popped 100 yen in, and some balls came out. Scooping them up in my hand as 100 yen worth of balls was not enough to need a bucket, I stepped to a machine, fed them in and pushed the button again and again and again. After a few minutes, all the balls were gone.
I never played again.
Watch the video related to Pachinko
If you cross-bred pinball and a slot machine and add a dash of video gameage, then you’d have Pachinko, or sometimes reffered to as Pachislot. A hallmark of Japan’s quirky mystique, the gameplay involves turning a knob. The interaction ends there. Then you watch as many small silver balls are hurled into the playing field. There is only one hole in the center that you hope the ball enters. If it does, the slot machine game starts and you could potentially win much more money, as all of the …
Help answer the question about Pachinko
pachinko!!!!!!!!!!!!?i love it.! will it ever be big in the u.s. or is it just for the land of the rising sun?!aside from that who else likes it?
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At Aaron Language Services (http://www.aaronlanguage.com/), we offer translation from Japanese to English, editing of English and other European languages, and online English coaching to a primarily Japanese client base.
November 24th, 2009 at 7:17 pm
I've been looking into this as well…
So far I've only found this one seller of modern machines online.
http://www.slot-pachinko.com/2004PACHINKO.HTM
I only came across this from a search on e-bay.
November 24th, 2009 at 8:17 pm
so they let under aged people join in? Those games look so darn fun! I’ve been wanting to play the Ginga Pachinko game.
November 24th, 2009 at 8:18 pm
For those of you who have yet to experience the fun of it, pachinko is a Japanese-style pinball machine that is vertically-oriented, as opposed to the pinball field, which is slanted 45 degrees. Will it make it big in the US? Well, the chances are pretty good. As you just mentioned, it is a big industry in Japan, and most pachinko parlors have slot machines with anime characters printed on them as well. I understand Americans in general enjoy both slot machines and anime, and if that's the case, there's a good chance that someday it'll be a smash hit.
November 24th, 2009 at 8:27 pm
@iloveyorkies
They sure do, at least some places. In a small town, for example, most people know each other, so the restriction is often not enforced if the parents take responsible.
On the other hand, if you go to the big cities, they probably won’t let you in.
November 25th, 2009 at 3:48 am
It depends on how much it's been used so far. They say it's usually 1-3 years. Or they do not use it so long because they need to replace it with the latest ones.
November 25th, 2009 at 4:00 am
stay at home next time, eh? :p
November 25th, 2009 at 10:59 am
1900- 2500 balls
November 25th, 2009 at 11:22 am
I wanna try
November 25th, 2009 at 11:49 am
>What do you need to know before getting in?
You don't need any skill to work part-time at pachinko parlor. In fact, other part-time jobs do not require skills, either.
If you know and like pachinko, it's plus.
>What will they teach you?
How to maintain pachinko machines
How to clean the hall
How to treat customers
But basically the job is very easy and simple, like carrying boxes. That's what part-time workers do.
>Parlors are always recruiting but is it as hard as it seems to get the job?
I don't think it's difficult. But as we are in recession now, it could be difficult in some cases.
In your cases, you need visa and Japanese skill. But you can't get working visa with part-time job. You have to have student visa or something else so that you have right to work.
November 25th, 2009 at 8:06 pm
A friend of mine went into one–hadn’t a clue, really. Spent hours there. Loved it.
November 25th, 2009 at 9:19 pm
Basically, pachinko parlors are everywhere in Japan or in Tokyo.
You won't have any difficulty in finding one in Tokyo.
If there is any gaijin friendly one, I can't find if one parlor is gaijin friendly unless I actually visit every parlor.
November 26th, 2009 at 9:08 am
how hold do u have to be to play pachinko
November 26th, 2009 at 1:07 pm
There may be some in Los Angeles. There's the Commerce Casino outside LA which is mostly an Asian clientele, so that may be a possibility. And there's a place called Pachinko Palace in Northridge, CA, but they don't have a website.
There's also a place called Pacific Rim Pachinko in Anaheim, CA, but again, they don't have a website.
November 26th, 2009 at 5:00 pm
Makes me think about Tati’s movies
November 26th, 2009 at 10:05 pm
you need to be 18 or older to play (gambling machine)
November 27th, 2009 at 5:50 am
They are legal and you can get them here:
http://www.pachislo.com/
This is a Los Angeles company
November 28th, 2009 at 12:08 am
I have tried many times in Tokyo, but it’s nothing special.
November 28th, 2009 at 12:39 am
Google is your friend.
There's no shortage of places in California that will happily sell you a pachinko machine. (I have no idea what you mean by "pachinko pinball," those are two different types of amusement machines.) Both pachinko and pinball have been legal in California for DECADES.
As for prizes…
Cops aren't going to break down your door for gambling with friends. They've got more important crimes to pursue.