Pachinko
Encyclopedia
is a type of game originating in Japan
, and used as both a form of recreational arcade game
and much more frequently as a gambling
device, filling a niche in gambling in Japan
comparable to that of the slot machine
in Western gambling. A pachinko machine resembles a vertical pinball
machine, but has no flippers and uses a large number of small balls. The player fires balls into the machine, which then cascade down through a dense forest of pins. If the balls go into certain locations, they may be captured, and sequences of events may be triggered that result in more balls being released. The object of the game is to capture as many balls as possible these balls can then be exchanged for prizes. Pachinko machines were originally strictly mechanical, but modern ones have incorporated extensive electronics, becoming similar to video slot machines.
The machines are widespread in establishments called parlors, which usually also feature a number of slot machines (called or pachislots); hence, these venues operate and look similar to casino
s. Modern pachinko machines are highly customizable, keeping enthusiasts continuously entertained. Because gambling for cash is illegal in Japan, balls won cannot be exchanged directly for money in the parlor; instead the balls are exchanged for tokens or prizes, which are then taken outside and exchanged for cash at a place nominally separate from the parlor.
As an indicator of the popularity of pachinko in Japan, the Japanese government estimates of the annual revenues of the pachinko and pachislot industry is in the region of ¥29 trillion (US$
300 billion). To put this in perspective, this is around four times the total profit of world-wide legal casino gambling each year, twice the annual turnover of Japan's automobile industry
, and approximately equivalent to the estimated yearly profit of the global narcotics trade.
". It emerged as an adult pastime in Nagoya around 1930 and spread from there. All of Japan's pachinko parlors were closed down during World War II but re-emerged in the late 1940s. Pachinko has remained popular since; the first commercial parlor was opened in Nagoya in 1948. As a country influenced by Japan during its occupation, Taiwan has many pachinko establishments.
Up until the 1980s, pachinko machines were mechanical devices, using bells to indicate different states of the machine. Electricity was used only to flash lights and to indicate problems, such as a machine emptied of its balls. Balls were launched using a flipper; their speed was controlled by pulling the flipper down to different levels. Manufacturers in this period included Nishijin and Sankyo
; most of these machines available on online auction sites today date to the 1970s. After that time, pachinko machines began to incorporate more and more electronic features, thus requiring electricity for operation.
s in Japan; according to the South Korean
newspaper JoongAng Ilbo
, 90% of the 16,000–17,000 pachinko shops in Japan are owned by them. The reason for this is that while Japanese ownership was a majority in the beginning, to help reduce problem gambling in 1954 automatic fire pachinko machines were banned, causing most Japanese manufacturers to leave the market to Zainichi Koreans, a high ratio that remained to this day.
There are many types of pachinko machines, but most of them are based on the bean machine
. In order to play pachinko, players get metal balls by inserting cash or cards directly into the machine they want to use. These balls are then shot into the machine from a ball tray with the purpose of attempting to win more balls. There is a digital slot machine
on a large screen in the center of the system and the objective of this part is to get 3 numbers or symbols in a row for a jackpot.
Older pachinko machines had a spring-loaded lever for shooting the balls individually, but newer ones use a round knob that controls the strength of an electrically fired plunger that shoots the balls onto the playing field. When shot, the balls drop through an array of pins; some of them will fall into the center gate and start up the slot machine in the center screen. Every ball that goes into the center gate results in one spin of the slot machine, but there is a limit on the number of spins at one time because of the possibility of balls passing through the center gate while a spin is still in progress. Each spin pays out a small number of balls, but the objective is to hit the jackpot. The program of the digital slot machine decides the outcome of the spin when the ball falls through the center gate, not when the spinning animation plays.
The payout mode lasts for a number of rounds. During each round, amidst more animations and movies playing on the center screen, a large payout gate opens up at the bottom of the machine layout and the player must try to shoot balls into it. Each ball that successfully enters into this gate results in a large number of balls being dropped into a separate tray at the bottom of the machine, which can then be placed into a ball bucket.
When a jackpot does not result in a kakuhen combination, the pachinko machine will enter into mode, with a much larger number of spins than kakuhen. Under the original payout odds, the center gate widens to make it considerably easier for balls to fall into it; this system is also present in kakuhen. To compensate for the increase in the number of spins, the digital slot machine produces the final outcomes of each spin faster. ST pachinko machines do not offer this mode; after it ends, the machine spins as in kakuhen. Once no more jackpots have been made, the pachinko machine reverts to its original setting.
In addition to being able to offer higher kakuhen percentages, koatari made it possible for manufacturers to design battle-type machines. Unlike old-fashioned pachinko machines that offer a full payout or a kakuhen for any type of jackpot earned, these machines require players to hit a kakuhen jackpot with a certain probability in order to get a full payout. This is orchestrated by the player entering into "battle", where the player, in accordance with the item that machine is based on, must "defeat" a certain enemy or foe in order to earn another kakuhen. If the player loses, it means that a normal koatari has been hit and the machine enters into jitan mode. The excitement of players "battling" to earn a string of consecutive kakuhens is what makes such machines addictive.
Another reason for incorporating koataris is that they make it possible for a machine to go into kakuhen mode without the player knowing. This is referred to as ('hidden') kakuhen because it does not occur in any of the jackpot modes. A player sitting at a used pachinko machine offering a 1 in x chance of hitting a jackpot in normal mode can hit it within x spins easily because the previous player did not realize that the machine was in senpuku. This induces players to keep playing their machines, even though they may still be in normal mode. Japanese pachinko players have not shown significant signs of protest in response to the incorporation of koatari; on the contrary, battle-type pachinko machines have become a major part of most parlors.
Winnings take the form of additional balls, which players may either use to keep playing or exchange for tokens (typically slits of gold encased in plastic), vouchers or other prizes. When players wish to exchange their winnings, they must call a parlor staff member by using a call button located at the top of their station. The staff member will then carry the player's balls to an automated counter to see how many balls they have. After recording the number of balls the player won and the number of the machine they used, the staff member will then give the player a voucher or card with the number of balls stored in it. The player then hands it in at the parlor's exchange center to get their tokens or prizes.
Prizes may be as simple as pens or cigarette lighters, or as complicated as electronics, bicycles and other items. Under Japanese law, cash cannot be paid out directly for pachinko balls, but there is usually a small exchange center located nearby, separate from the game parlor but sometimes in a separate unit as part of the same building, where players may exchange their winnings for cash. This is tolerated by the police because the pachinko parlors that pay out goods and tokens are independent from the exchange centers that trade the tokens in for cash. Some pachinko parlors may even give out vouchers for groceries at a nearby supermarket
. The yakuza
(organized crime
) were formerly often involved in prize exchange, but a great deal of police effort beginning in the 1960s and ramping up in the 1990s has largely done way with their influence.
In Taiwan, it is possible to exchange balls directly for cash at parlors, but it is only done with frequent customers and is highly illegal. A way players can win cash legally is by selling the prizes won to a nearby associate store that acts like a pawn shop and buys the items at discount prices. For example, if somebody exchanged their metal ball winnings for a pack of cigarettes but did not smoke, they could sell it to the associate store at 10%-30% less than its actual value, or trade their winnings with another player and trade or sell the balls for cash.
for pachinko players and everyone is expected to conform to them or be asked to leave that particular establishment or even be put under arrest. For example, parlor staff members are not supposed to tell a player where they can exchange their tokens for cash because of legality issues, so players are expected to find out this information on their own. It is taboo
to touch another player's winnings. Additionally, players are not allowed to take over a pachinko machine if there are personal possessions that belong to another player in the tray, such as a cell phone or a box of cigarettes. Smoking is allowed in parlors, although there are discussions in Japan to extend public smoking ban
s to pachinko parlors.
s and festivals in Taiwan that are home-made with plywood and nails. It uses glass marbles instead of steel balls and prizes include toys and candy. This children's version is considered as a carnival game and electrical versions have now appeared in arcades.
Most pachinko parlors are required to pay an unofficial gambling tax, gathered from players' winnings, as a form of bribe to the police for tolerating their what would otherwise be illegal. The police will usually only shut down parlors if they significantly alter the payout odds of their machines when in use, or by any means cause players to lose an intolerable amount of money. Hence, unexpected raids on suspicious parlors to search for such alterations are common.
The police tolerate the level of gambling in pachinko parlors. For example, in May 2005, a particular parlor in Kanagawa prefecture
reported to the local police that someone had counterfeited their tokens and made off with the equivalent of US$60,000 in cash by trading them in at their nearby exchange center. Even with such information proving that this parlor was illegally operating an exchange center, which by law must be independent from the parlor, the police did not shut them both down, but instead only worked to track down the thief in question.
Gambling within the private industry is illegal, but pachinko parlors are not considered by authorities as definitely gambling and are therefore not centers of illegal activity. Any potential illegal activity is evaluated on a case by case basis; even then, only the most obvious offenders will be shut down. Attitudes towards pachinko vary in Japan from being considered a way to make a living to being stigmatized. Taiwan
is another region currently undergoing a pachinko craze as it bypasses the law; hence crime organizations run many parlors there as it provides a front for loan shark
s, money launderers
, escort services, and gaining investment income.
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, and used as both a form of recreational arcade game
Arcade game
An arcade game is a coin-operated entertainment machine, usually installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars, and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are video games, pinball machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption games, and merchandisers...
and much more frequently as a gambling
Gambling
Gambling is the wagering of money or something of material value on an event with an uncertain outcome with the primary intent of winning additional money and/or material goods...
device, filling a niche in gambling in Japan
Gambling in Japan
Gambling in Japan is generally banned by the Criminal Code chapter 23, however there are several exceptions, including betting on horse racing and certain motor sports....
comparable to that of the slot machine
Slot machine
A slot machine , informally fruit machine , the slots , poker machine or "pokies" or simply slot is a casino gambling machine with three or more reels which spin when a button is pushed...
in Western gambling. A pachinko machine resembles a vertical pinball
Pinball
Pinball is a type of arcade game, usually coin-operated, where a player attempts to score points by manipulating one or more metal balls on a playfield inside a glass-covered case called a pinball machine. The primary objective of the game is to score as many points as possible...
machine, but has no flippers and uses a large number of small balls. The player fires balls into the machine, which then cascade down through a dense forest of pins. If the balls go into certain locations, they may be captured, and sequences of events may be triggered that result in more balls being released. The object of the game is to capture as many balls as possible these balls can then be exchanged for prizes. Pachinko machines were originally strictly mechanical, but modern ones have incorporated extensive electronics, becoming similar to video slot machines.
The machines are widespread in establishments called parlors, which usually also feature a number of slot machines (called or pachislots); hence, these venues operate and look similar to casino
Casino
In modern English, a casino is a facility which houses and accommodates certain types of gambling activities. Casinos are most commonly built near or combined with hotels, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships or other tourist attractions...
s. Modern pachinko machines are highly customizable, keeping enthusiasts continuously entertained. Because gambling for cash is illegal in Japan, balls won cannot be exchanged directly for money in the parlor; instead the balls are exchanged for tokens or prizes, which are then taken outside and exchanged for cash at a place nominally separate from the parlor.
As an indicator of the popularity of pachinko in Japan, the Japanese government estimates of the annual revenues of the pachinko and pachislot industry is in the region of ¥29 trillion (US$
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
300 billion). To put this in perspective, this is around four times the total profit of world-wide legal casino gambling each year, twice the annual turnover of Japan's automobile industry
Automotive industry in Japan
The Japanese automotive industry is one of the most prominent industries in the world. Japan was the world's largest vehicle manufacturer in 2008 but lost one rank in 2009 to current leader China...
, and approximately equivalent to the estimated yearly profit of the global narcotics trade.
History
Pachinko machines were first built during the 1920s as a children's toy called the , based on and named after the American "Corinthian bagatelleBagatelle
Bagatelle is a billiards-derived indoor table game, the object of which is to get a number of balls past wooden pins into holes...
". It emerged as an adult pastime in Nagoya around 1930 and spread from there. All of Japan's pachinko parlors were closed down during World War II but re-emerged in the late 1940s. Pachinko has remained popular since; the first commercial parlor was opened in Nagoya in 1948. As a country influenced by Japan during its occupation, Taiwan has many pachinko establishments.
Up until the 1980s, pachinko machines were mechanical devices, using bells to indicate different states of the machine. Electricity was used only to flash lights and to indicate problems, such as a machine emptied of its balls. Balls were launched using a flipper; their speed was controlled by pulling the flipper down to different levels. Manufacturers in this period included Nishijin and Sankyo
Sankyo
means "third one" in Japanese. It may refer to:, a Japanese pharmaceutical company, a Japanese pharmaceutical company and a successor of Sankyo Co. since 2005.* A principle in Aikido referred to as "third teaching"...
; most of these machines available on online auction sites today date to the 1970s. After that time, pachinko machines began to incorporate more and more electronic features, thus requiring electricity for operation.
Ownership
The majority of pachinko shops are owned by Zainichi KoreanZainichi Korean
Koreans in Japan are the ethnic Korean residents of Japan. They currently constitute the second largest ethnic minority group in Japan. The majority of Koreans in Japan are Zainichi Koreans, also often known as Zainichi for short, who are the permanent ethnic Korean residents of Japan...
s in Japan; according to the South Korean
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
newspaper JoongAng Ilbo
JoongAng Ilbo
JoongAng Ilbo is a conservative newspaper published in Seoul, South Korea. It is one of the "big three newspapers" in South Korea. It has a circulation of 1.96 million copies in South Korea . Its average page count per copy is around 52...
, 90% of the 16,000–17,000 pachinko shops in Japan are owned by them. The reason for this is that while Japanese ownership was a majority in the beginning, to help reduce problem gambling in 1954 automatic fire pachinko machines were banned, causing most Japanese manufacturers to leave the market to Zainichi Koreans, a high ratio that remained to this day.
Mechanism
Bean machine
The bean machine, also known as the quincunx or Galton box, is a device invented by Sir Francis Galton to demonstrate the central limit theorem, in particular that the normal distribution is approximate to the binomial distribution....
. In order to play pachinko, players get metal balls by inserting cash or cards directly into the machine they want to use. These balls are then shot into the machine from a ball tray with the purpose of attempting to win more balls. There is a digital slot machine
Slot machine
A slot machine , informally fruit machine , the slots , poker machine or "pokies" or simply slot is a casino gambling machine with three or more reels which spin when a button is pushed...
on a large screen in the center of the system and the objective of this part is to get 3 numbers or symbols in a row for a jackpot.
Older pachinko machines had a spring-loaded lever for shooting the balls individually, but newer ones use a round knob that controls the strength of an electrically fired plunger that shoots the balls onto the playing field. When shot, the balls drop through an array of pins; some of them will fall into the center gate and start up the slot machine in the center screen. Every ball that goes into the center gate results in one spin of the slot machine, but there is a limit on the number of spins at one time because of the possibility of balls passing through the center gate while a spin is still in progress. Each spin pays out a small number of balls, but the objective is to hit the jackpot. The program of the digital slot machine decides the outcome of the spin when the ball falls through the center gate, not when the spinning animation plays.
Payout mode
If the first 2 numbers or letters of the spin match up, the digital program will display many animations before the third reel stops spinning, to give the player added excitement. Pachinko machines offer different odds in hitting a jackpot; if the player manages obtain a jackpot the machine will enter into payout mode.The payout mode lasts for a number of rounds. During each round, amidst more animations and movies playing on the center screen, a large payout gate opens up at the bottom of the machine layout and the player must try to shoot balls into it. Each ball that successfully enters into this gate results in a large number of balls being dropped into a separate tray at the bottom of the machine, which can then be placed into a ball bucket.
Post-payout systems
After the payout mode has ended, the pachinko machine may do one of two things. Most of them employ the system, where some percentage of the possible jackpots on the digital slot machine result in the odds of hitting the next jackpot multiplying by a large amount, followed by another spin regardless of the outcome. The probability of a kakuhen occurring is determined by a random number generator. Hence, under this system, it is possible for a player to get a string of consecutive jackpots after the first "hard earned" one, commonly referred to as "fever mode". Another type of kakuhen system is the special time or ST kakuhen. With these machines, every jackpot earned results in a kakuhen, but in order to earn a payout beyond the first jackpot, the player must hit a certain set of odds within a given amount of spins.When a jackpot does not result in a kakuhen combination, the pachinko machine will enter into mode, with a much larger number of spins than kakuhen. Under the original payout odds, the center gate widens to make it considerably easier for balls to fall into it; this system is also present in kakuhen. To compensate for the increase in the number of spins, the digital slot machine produces the final outcomes of each spin faster. ST pachinko machines do not offer this mode; after it ends, the machine spins as in kakuhen. Once no more jackpots have been made, the pachinko machine reverts to its original setting.
Koatari
Starting in 2007, the majority of Japanese pachinko machines started to include into their payout systems. Koatari is shorter than the normal jackpot and during payout mode the payout gate opens for a short time only, even if no balls go into it. The timing of the opening of the gates here is unpredictable, effectively making it a jackpot where the player receives no payout. Koatari jackpots can result in a kakuhen as per normal operation, depending on the payout scheme of the machine in question. The main purpose of koatari is so that pachinko manufacturers can offer payout schemes that to be largely favorable to customers, without losing any long-term profit.In addition to being able to offer higher kakuhen percentages, koatari made it possible for manufacturers to design battle-type machines. Unlike old-fashioned pachinko machines that offer a full payout or a kakuhen for any type of jackpot earned, these machines require players to hit a kakuhen jackpot with a certain probability in order to get a full payout. This is orchestrated by the player entering into "battle", where the player, in accordance with the item that machine is based on, must "defeat" a certain enemy or foe in order to earn another kakuhen. If the player loses, it means that a normal koatari has been hit and the machine enters into jitan mode. The excitement of players "battling" to earn a string of consecutive kakuhens is what makes such machines addictive.
Another reason for incorporating koataris is that they make it possible for a machine to go into kakuhen mode without the player knowing. This is referred to as ('hidden') kakuhen because it does not occur in any of the jackpot modes. A player sitting at a used pachinko machine offering a 1 in x chance of hitting a jackpot in normal mode can hit it within x spins easily because the previous player did not realize that the machine was in senpuku. This induces players to keep playing their machines, even though they may still be in normal mode. Japanese pachinko players have not shown significant signs of protest in response to the incorporation of koatari; on the contrary, battle-type pachinko machines have become a major part of most parlors.
Design
Pachinko machines vary in several aspects, including decoration, music, modes and gates. Most machines have customizable settings inside them, accessible by parlour workers only, to pay out more balls or increase the multiplier settings and mode lengths, for example, allowing a high level of customization. These factors keep things interesting and lead pachinko enthusiasts to the belief that certain machines have been tweaked to have very high payout settings. Different parlours have different types of machines with different settings, so enthusiasts may switch parlours if they are unsatisfied with any particular one. The most common difference between pachinko machines is their payout: older machines are hard to get jackpots on but pay out a lot, whereas the newer machines are easier to win on but pay out less. Hence, the older machines are the choice of hard gamblers while the newer ones suit people who do not want to make a profit.Prizes
Prizes may be as simple as pens or cigarette lighters, or as complicated as electronics, bicycles and other items. Under Japanese law, cash cannot be paid out directly for pachinko balls, but there is usually a small exchange center located nearby, separate from the game parlor but sometimes in a separate unit as part of the same building, where players may exchange their winnings for cash. This is tolerated by the police because the pachinko parlors that pay out goods and tokens are independent from the exchange centers that trade the tokens in for cash. Some pachinko parlors may even give out vouchers for groceries at a nearby supermarket
Supermarket
A supermarket, a form of grocery store, is a self-service store offering a wide variety of food and household merchandise, organized into departments...
. The yakuza
Yakuza
, also known as , are members of traditional organized crime syndicates in Japan. The Japanese police, and media by request of the police, call them bōryokudan , literally "violence group", while the yakuza call themselves "ninkyō dantai" , "chivalrous organizations". The yakuza are notoriously...
(organized crime
Organized crime
Organized crime or criminal organizations are transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals for the purpose of engaging in illegal activity, most commonly for monetary profit. Some criminal organizations, such as terrorist organizations, are...
) were formerly often involved in prize exchange, but a great deal of police effort beginning in the 1960s and ramping up in the 1990s has largely done way with their influence.
In Taiwan, it is possible to exchange balls directly for cash at parlors, but it is only done with frequent customers and is highly illegal. A way players can win cash legally is by selling the prizes won to a nearby associate store that acts like a pawn shop and buys the items at discount prices. For example, if somebody exchanged their metal ball winnings for a pack of cigarettes but did not smoke, they could sell it to the associate store at 10%-30% less than its actual value, or trade their winnings with another player and trade or sell the balls for cash.
Recreational pachinko
Many video arcades in Japan feature pachinko models from different times. They offer more playing time for a certain amount of money spent and have balls exchanged for game tokens, which can only be used to play other games in the establishment. As many of these arcades are smoke-free and the gambling is removed, this is popular for casual players, children, and those wanting to play in a more relaxed atmosphere. Thrifty gamblers may spend a small amount on a newly released model in such establishments to get the feel for the machine before going to a real parlor. The same machines can be found in many stores, with the difference being that they pay out capsules containing a prize coupon or store credit.Etiquette
In Japan, there are many unwritten rules of conductCode of Conduct
A code of conduct is a set of rules outlining the responsibilities of or proper practices for an individual, party or organization. Related concepts include ethical codes and honor codes....
for pachinko players and everyone is expected to conform to them or be asked to leave that particular establishment or even be put under arrest. For example, parlor staff members are not supposed to tell a player where they can exchange their tokens for cash because of legality issues, so players are expected to find out this information on their own. It is taboo
Taboo
A taboo is a strong social prohibition relating to any area of human activity or social custom that is sacred and or forbidden based on moral judgment, religious beliefs and or scientific consensus. Breaking the taboo is usually considered objectionable or abhorrent by society...
to touch another player's winnings. Additionally, players are not allowed to take over a pachinko machine if there are personal possessions that belong to another player in the tray, such as a cell phone or a box of cigarettes. Smoking is allowed in parlors, although there are discussions in Japan to extend public smoking ban
Smoking ban
Smoking bans are public policies, including criminal laws and occupational safety and health regulations, which prohibit tobacco smoking in workplaces and/or other public spaces...
s to pachinko parlors.
Children
Children are not allowed inside the pachinko parlors, mainly because of alcohol and smoking that may cause accidental burns rather than secondhand smoke. Children often accompany grandparents or relatives who gamble, as strict enforcement would anger customers. There is a children's version of pachinko held at night marketNight market
Night markets or night bazaars are street markets which operate at night and are generally dedicated to more leisurely strolling, shopping, and eating than more businesslike day markets.-Geographical spread:...
s and festivals in Taiwan that are home-made with plywood and nails. It uses glass marbles instead of steel balls and prizes include toys and candy. This children's version is considered as a carnival game and electrical versions have now appeared in arcades.
Crime
Due to its borderline legality, pachinko has a close relationship with the police. When pachinko was accepted as a relatively harmless leisure activity in previous years, this was not the case. With the growing public and political pressure in recent years, since passage of Japan's blanket anti-gambling law, the police are more active in regulating parlors. Retired officers often work in the pachinko parlor industry; critics have pointed out that while this has had a deterrent effect against organized crime involvement, it also means that these operators are in a strong position to influence currently active police officers in their favor.Most pachinko parlors are required to pay an unofficial gambling tax, gathered from players' winnings, as a form of bribe to the police for tolerating their what would otherwise be illegal. The police will usually only shut down parlors if they significantly alter the payout odds of their machines when in use, or by any means cause players to lose an intolerable amount of money. Hence, unexpected raids on suspicious parlors to search for such alterations are common.
The police tolerate the level of gambling in pachinko parlors. For example, in May 2005, a particular parlor in Kanagawa prefecture
Kanagawa Prefecture
is a prefecture located in the southern Kantō region of Japan. The capital is Yokohama. Kanagawa is part of the Greater Tokyo Area.-History:The prefecture has some archaeological sites going back to the Jōmon period...
reported to the local police that someone had counterfeited their tokens and made off with the equivalent of US$60,000 in cash by trading them in at their nearby exchange center. Even with such information proving that this parlor was illegally operating an exchange center, which by law must be independent from the parlor, the police did not shut them both down, but instead only worked to track down the thief in question.
Gambling within the private industry is illegal, but pachinko parlors are not considered by authorities as definitely gambling and are therefore not centers of illegal activity. Any potential illegal activity is evaluated on a case by case basis; even then, only the most obvious offenders will be shut down. Attitudes towards pachinko vary in Japan from being considered a way to make a living to being stigmatized. Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
is another region currently undergoing a pachinko craze as it bypasses the law; hence crime organizations run many parlors there as it provides a front for loan shark
Loan shark
A loan shark is a person or body that offers unsecured loans at illegally high interest rates to individuals, often enforcing repayment by blackmail or threats of violence....
s, money launderers
Money laundering
Money laundering is the process of disguising illegal sources of money so that it looks like it came from legal sources. The methods by which money may be laundered are varied and can range in sophistication. Many regulatory and governmental authorities quote estimates each year for the amount...
, escort services, and gaining investment income.
Ball designs
Pachinko balls are forbidden to be removed from a parlor to be used elsewhere. To help prevent this, many parlors have a design or name engraved in each ball vended so that someone can be spotted carrying a tray of balls brought from the outside. This has led some to start collections of pachinko balls with various designs.See also
- Visual PinballVisual PinballVisual Pinball is a freeware video game engine for pinball tables and similar games e.g. pachinko machines. The software is composed of an editor and the simulator part itself. It runs on Microsoft Windows...
- a software game engine for creating computer game simulations of pachinko and pinball machines - PlinkoPlinkoPlinko is a pricing game on the American television game show The Price Is Right. The game involves guessing the prices of prizes to win "Plinko chips," which are later dropped down a large bean machine-style board to determine the contestant's cash prize...
- a game, similar to pachinko, featured on the American game show The Price is RightThe Price Is RightThe Price Is Right is a television game show franchise originally produced by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman, and created by Bob Stewart, and is currently produced and owned by FremantleMedia. The franchise centers on television game shows, but also includes merchandise such as video games, printed... - Pachinko allocationPachinko allocationIn machine learning and natural language processing, the pachinko allocation model is a topic model, i.e. a generative statistical model for discovering the abstract "topics" that occur in a collection of documents...