Featured

pachinko

Osaka pachinko parlor volunteers to become public vaccination center

The machines will be turned off at the time, so no need for earplugs.

Read More

Japanese high school students arrested for robbing pachinko parlour at knife-point

Surely there’s a better way to start 2021 than this.

Read More

Why have no COVID-19 clusters occurred in pachinko parlors?

Many of pachinko’s worst qualities actually make it a relatively safe environment.

Read More

List of shame from Japanese government may be next weapon in fight against coronavirus

Politician wants people to know which businesses in one high-risk industry are ignoring warnings during the state of emergency.

Read More

Pachinko parlor has weird way of combating COVID-19 that does nothing about swarms of customers

A popular pachinko place claims to be “following suggestions by city mayors“, but is what they’re doing helpful?

Read More

Is pachinko headed for extinction in Japan? Studies reveal huge drop in players, hall operators

A grim mortality rate for pachinko parlor management companies shines a light on the poor health of the industry.

Read More

Is nothing sacred? Line crossed as beloved anime Captain Tsubasa endorses pseudo-gambling

Reason #164 why pachinko sucks.

Read More

Future Japanese casinos to use steep admission fees to curb addiction, make winning harder

”Preventative measures” sees visitors setting themselves back $75 before even stepping foot into the casino.

Read More

Pachinko parlor worker lists the three worst types of customers in Japan’s gambling dens

Even in famously polite Japan, some gamblers just don’t have any manners.

Read More

Evolving with the times – pachinko parlors in Japan are changing to better serve their clientele

If smoke-filled rooms, loud noises and low win rates weren’t enticing you to go, there might actually be a few reasons to visit one now!

Read More

Japanese Twitter users discuss the fine line between having fun and being an addict

Turns out there’s a simple way you assess whether you’re a happy drunk or a dangerous one, at least according to one Japanese Twitter user.

Read More

Check out the one-month electric bills for Tokyo Tower, Skytree and more!

Place your bets now for what you think the biggest energy consumer in the largest city in Japan is.

Read More

Angry customer smashes pachinko machines with hammer 【Video】

Videos have emerged of a man smashing pachinko machines with a hammer before being arrested by police.

Read More

Man tries something unique to appease the pachinko gods –- totally worth it?

It’s basically like a guy in a Cloud costume playing Final Fantasy VII.

Read More

Metal Gear fans’ worst fear comes true as proud video game masterpiece becomes a pachinko machine

Depending on how cynical a gamer you are, this is either the last thing you expected, or the first.

Read More

Thanks, Konami! Brand-new Silent Hill game coming in October…to pachinko parlors?!?

From the consumer end, it’s easy to mistakenly assume that video game publishers’ only concerns are creating art and providing fun. The reality, though, is that like with any human endeavor, time and money are always limiting factors in game development, and while an abundance of one can sometimes help cover for a lack of the other, at the end of the day there are only so many resources to go around, and companies can’t greenlight every project pitched to them.

But that just makes it all the more heart-warming when a major publisher gives the go-ahead to a new installment of a fan-favorite. Remember how a few months ago Konami halted digital distribution of horror sensation P.T. and the associated Silent Hills, the daydream-come-to-life collaboration between game and film directors Hideo Kojima and Guillermo del Toro? All water under the bridge, because there’s a brand new Silent Hill game coming in October, and it’ll cost less than a buck to play!

Konami is even being bold enough to take the franchise into an entirely new genre: pachinko.

Read More

Proposed facial recognition system would send warning emails to families of pachinko addicts

For a country that doesn’t have any businesses officially classified as “casinos,” Japan has a ton of places to gamble. By far the most common are pachinko parlors, which you can find within a short walk of just about every major train station in Tokyo and Japan’s other large cities.

But with so many places to gamble, and many of them allowing customers to purchase the balls used to play for as little as one yen (less than a penny) each, it’s easy to get sucked into the siren song of the pachinko parlor. Seeking to help gamblers keep their wagers within their limits, one company is now proposing using facial recognition software to inform you, or your family, when you’re gambling too much.

Read More

Nearly five percent of Japanese are addicted to gambling – even though it’s still “illegal”

What do loud noises, small shiny balls, and bright lights have in common? Pachinko parlors. Pachinko, which can be described as a cross between pinball and slot machines, is a favorite pastime in Japan, despite gambling being illegal (because it’s not technically gambling). The players, who often spend hours sitting in front of these noisy, bright machines, win shiny steel balls, not money, so it’s not gambling, right? Right. Enter loophole: They can take their baskets of balls to a neighboring, but “separate,” establishment to exchange the balls for cash prizes. How convenient!

Pachinko parlors are often huge, gaudy buildings, common even to countryside towns. If you pass one early in the morning, there will often be a line of people rounding the corner, waiting for the doors to open. Many people, especially men, love pachinko. Some members of the government, however, are starting to believe that their citizens love it a little too much.

Read More

Find 707 animated frames in the “Haruhi Hunting” campaign to unlock a new animated clip!

Gotta find ’em all! should be the catchphrase for the campaign attached to the new The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya animated video. Even though it’s the first new Haruhi animation in four years, its creators aren’t just screening it for free–they’re making fans actually work to see it! That said, the campaign is actually more like a treasure hunt than anything else. Introducing “Haruhi Hunting,” in which the residents of Japan must work together to unlock the new promotional video. 

Do YOU have what takes to find all 707 missing frames of the animation?

Read More

Here’s your heart-breaking short story of the day, written on a 1,000 yen bill

Perhaps one of the saddest things ever written is Hemingway’s famous six-word story: “For sale: Baby shoes, never worn.” Though short in the extreme, it’s amazing how much emotion and information can be packed into six small words. Of course, Hemingway isn’t the only writer known for brevity, and the last 1,300 years of Japanese poetry have been full of brief but beautiful and poignant verses. But when it comes to terse (some might say inelegant) narrative, Hemingway was certainly a master.

However, we may have found someone who’s outdone the old drunkard! Too bad this one seems inspired by utterly real events…

Read More

  2. 1
  3. 2