Japan: Economics in Everyday Life

5. Why Is Pachinko So Popular?

5 Why Is Pachinko So Popular? Shigeyuki Abe and James Mak Pachinko, the Japanese version of the pinball machine, is one of the most popular leisure activities in Japan. Fifty percent of the Japanese have played it. In 1995, over 28 million Japanese played pachinko, an average of nearly twenty-five times during the year. Foreigners, seeing the Japanese sitting for hours in front of pachinko machines, often wonder what is so fascinating about this seemingly repetitive and monotonous game, and many Japanese would agree with that sentiment. Nonetheless, pachinko is big business in Japan. There are over 18,000 pachinko parlors across the country, with 4.6 million pachinko machines. Pachinko parlors are concentrated in high-pedestrian-traffic areas near train and subway stations, shopping arcades, and malls, often right next to each other. Many are owned by Korean nationals living in Japan. In 1995, the Japanese spent an estimated 300 billion U.S. dollars playing pachinko—about 6 times the amount the country spent on national defense. What Is Pachinko? Pachinko is the Japanese adaptation of an American children ’s toy called the Corinthian Game, a flat board dotted with 33 pins and holes. A ball is launched upward through a slot on the right side and allowed to roll back down, hitting the nails and possibly falling into a hole. Soon after the game was imported into Japan in 1924, local entrepreneurs quickly adapted it to stand vertically to save space, covered it with glass, and began to offer prizes to winners. Shortly thereafter the game became very popular among adults. The game was named “pachinko” after the “pachi- pachi-” sound of the metal balls hitting against the glass cover. The first licensed pachinko parlor was opened in Nagoya City in 1930. During World War II, pachinko parlors were shut down, but they quickly reopened after the war. During those difficult years, players could even win rationed or luxury goods. The parlors probably procured these goods from the black market through organized crime connections, a relationship that is still believed to exist. To play pachinko, you sit on a stool in front of the machine and launch a small 11 millimeter steel ball (about the size of the tip of your little finger) up the slot into the playing field using a mechanical spring-loaded driver. On its way down, the metal ball bounces among the pins and hits various targets. If it falls into a hole, you win—more shining balls cascade noisily out of the machine, just like a payoff at a Las Vegas slot machine. If you win large numbers of pachinko balls, you can exchange them for popular prizes such as cigarettes. Like the old pinball machines, pachinko machines are eyecatching , with names like Airplane Pachinko, Fever Pachinko, Video Fever Pachinko, and Pachi-slo, which is a replica of the slot machine. The industry sustains customer interest by frequently introducing new games, and the machines themselves rarely stay in one place for more than six months. The latest versions have electronic launchers, incorporate new electronic-age designs, and have microchip technology that can keep many balls in play at once. Balls can now be automatically fed into the machines from trays, allowing the player to play at more than one machine simultaneously. The new machines have reduced 34 Japan: Why It Works, Why It Doesn’t the manual skill needed to play and have speeded up the game. These improvements have increased excitement for the players and the profits for the parlors. Pachinko balls cost the customer about 4 yen each, but a large jackpot can pay off as many as ten thousand shiny pachinko balls! Most players are male salarymen, but the primary customers vary according to the time of day. Housewives play during the day, young people after school, and in the evening hours the parlors are filled with businessmen and shopkeepers. Children are not permitted to play in pachinko parlors, but there are children’s versions of pachinko machines in the amusement sections of Japanese department stores. In 1990, the average male player spent about 3,300 yen (33 U.S. dollars) per visit. Recently, the average per player has apparently increased, perhaps to 24,000 yen (240 U.S. dollars) per visit. Why Is Pachinko So Popular? There are a variety of opinions about the continued popularity of pachinko. According to Hiroshi Takeuchi, Chairman of the Board...