Pachinko is dying, boo-fucking-hoo

[Taro Toporific]

Lights dim for Japan's pachinko parlours
ft.com -- Apr 12, 2012
It is the familiar background music of every Japanese shopping street: a cacophony of mechanical bleeps and rattles, disgorged along with a plume of cigarette smoke each time the doors of a pachinko parlour open to admit another punter.
Yet the archetypal salaryman pastime is dying, in spite of its apparent ubiquity. Even as Japan looks ahead to its first western-style casinos, pachinko, the modified version of pinball played since the 1930s - itself a quasi-legal form of gambling - has been all but abandoned by younger Japanese.
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[dimwit]

I dunno. I feel that pachiko serves a very good community function, it keeps the trash off the streets in a mindless haze, so that other people don't have to deal with them. Would you rather have them driving uyoku trucks?

[J.A.F.O]

I'm not big with pachinko. I mean I understand the old adage "A fool and his money" but I'm happy this one is going. Is there an actual skill involved in pachinko? I've watched it but can't seem to find any method in the madness.

[Coligny]

I'm not big with pachinko. I mean I understand the old adage "A fool and his money" but I'm happy this one is going. Is there an actual skill involved in pachinko? I've watched it but can't seem to find any method in the madness.

Is it even interactive ? or enjoyable ? I have to find a simulator on the interweb.

Me Julie and me nearly went once on a bored late morning... we entered the first door... still one set to go... but the assault of noise stale tobacco smell, blinking light and more noise made our heads immediately spin and we reflexively and simultaneously turned back and ran for the car... only thing we had to say was "never again"...

[yanpa]

I'm not big with pachinko. I mean I understand the old adage "A fool and his money" but I'm happy this one is going. Is there an actual skill involved in pachinko? I've watched it but can't seem to find any method in the madness.

Is it even interactive ? or enjoyable ? I have to find a simulator on the interweb.

Me Julie and me nearly went once on a bored late morning... we entered the first door... still one set to go... but the assault of noise stale tobacco smell, blinking light and more noise made our heads immediately spin and we reflexively and simultaneously turned back and ran for the car... only thing we had to say was "never again"...

I once lived above a pachinko parlour for a while. Even 7 or 8 stories up you could hear the noise, albeit not enough to be annoying or even noticeable unless you tried. Never once felt tempted to check it out, though the line of low-life losers queuing up before 10am was alway mildly amusing.

[legion]

the first and last time I played pachinko I won about 10,000JPY, still didn't go back, was pretty sure I "won" as in someone tripped a switch in the hope a lot of sucker gaijin would go and spend their hard earned beer tokens

[CrankyBastard]

If you don't like pachinko, don't play it.

[Russell]

And if you do like pachinko, do play it...

[Coligny]

I don't understand why people get so worked up aboot patchinko...

[Wage Slave]

My MiL hates it with a passion. I think she's seen it do serious damage to the finances of one or two families in the village. I suppose in a way it's the worst of both worlds - Lost time AND money. At least other forms of gambling don't consume so much time.

[wagyl]

In my view, the sums of money involved also severely erode the work ethic. I have been in work situations where coworkers have driven 20 Km down a mountain road after their paid work to go to their "honshoku" pachinko. On a good day their winnings are 8 to 10 times what they earned that day in their day job, which has got to make you think twice about continuing that day job. Of course, even though it is deliberately forgotten, I am sure that for most of them their losses over a period of time exceed their winnings, but the damage in enthusiasm for paid work is already done.

I will admit that I haven't read the linked article in the OP, but based on just the headlines alone, I will counter that although I do see evidence that pachinko is not as vibrant a business as it once was, I do not think it is suffering or decreasing at a rate any faster than the economy generally. There is still a steady stream of bored people for whom it is a better timefiller than staring at deai sites on their smartphone. And the gamble-aholics. The four-yen and one-yen pachinko machines are attracting the female market, and when the local shop needs to have banners up reminding you not to leave your kids in the car while you 'chink, well, you only go to those kind of lengths if there is a real and present phenomenon to address.

[Dreamy_Peach]

In my view, the sums of money involved also severely erode the work ethic. I have been in work situations where coworkers have driven 20 Km down a mountain road after their paid work to go to their "honshoku" pachinko. On a good day their winnings are 8 to 10 times what they earned that day in their day job, which has got to make you think twice about continuing that day job.

The same is true of any form of gambling, or even investment.

Made all of 4m on a spread bet a while back that made me start dreaming of a new life of wealth and luxury. Of course, I lost it all again on a series of badly placed moves. Ho hum. That aside, I seem to spend a lot more time looking at my portfolio than thinking about my job nowadays.

[Samurai_Jerk]

'chink

Racist.

[wagyl]

'chink

Racist.

Next you'll accuse me of saying that Mexican food is spic'y.

[yanpa]

'chink

Racist.

Next you'll accuse me of saying that Mexican food is spic'y.

Italian food is wop'in great.

[matsuki]

I will admit that I haven't read the linked article in the OP, but based on just the headlines alone, I will counter that although I do see evidence that pachinko is not as vibrant a business as it once was, I do not think it is suffering or decreasing at a rate any faster than the economy generally. There is still a steady stream of bored people for whom it is a better timefiller than staring at deai sites on their smartphone. And the gamble-aholics. The four-yen and one-yen pachinko machines are attracting the female market, and when the local shop needs to have banners up reminding you not to leave your kids in the car while you 'chink, well, you only go to those kind of lengths if there is a real and present phenomenon to address.

The "N-1" chain here in the gata seems to be expanding at an insane rate....the newest one here is the size of a COSTCO, complete with matching parking lot.....and doesn't seem to be lacking for customers.

[wagyl]

The "N-1" chain here in the gata seems to be expanding at an insane rate....the newest one here is the size of a COSTCO, complete with matching parking lot.....and doesn't seem to be lacking for customers.

Yes well you know what other entertainment options are available in Niigata and it starts to make sense. But at the risk of sounding like I am contradicting myself, gambling establishments, like banks and insurance offices, by nature have to be classy and impressive to attract clients. Expansion of a particular chain might be a turf war, to discourage competing chains from entering the market, just like happens in the coffe shop and kombini market. The test is whether that impressive shop is still open in three years time, or if there is grass growing in the cracks in the tarmac in the carpark.

[matsuki]

I find myself either insanely busy or entertained while I'm here but you'd think there would be some inaka entertainment setup by some creative folk here...oh, wait.... Shit, even copying the US trend, there are a million places here to setup ziplines and whatnot.

[matsuki]

http://blog.japantimes.co.jp/yen-for-li ... -scrutiny/

As it stands, pachinko winnings are not taxed and pro-casino forces are thinking of implementing a 1 percent levy on those winnings, so they went to the National Police Agency and asked for figures to see what kind of tax revenues they could expect. An NPA representative told them, seemingly with a straight face, that they don’t keep such statistics since there are no winnings.

Awesometown! (though I think the Casinos themselves, will be the downfall of Pachinko parlors...or force them to "convert" to western style Casinos")

[Mike Oxlong]

I find myself either insanely busy or entertained while I'm here but you'd think there would be some inaka entertainment setup by some creative folk here...oh, wait.... Shit, even copying the US trend, there are a million places here to setup ziplines and whatnot.

That strange binary thinking. Cities are for culture and partying, and the countryside is for camping and cow-tipping. Guess I was lucky to grow up with small town community theater, various sports leagues, show n' shines, pancake breakfasts and rodeos, Canada Day parades and concerts, museums not so far away that actually rotated exhibits and had visiting exhibits, historical sites and interpretive centers, Thanksgiving turkey dinners both at home and community ones, turkey shoots, and so much more. The countryside was different, but was not limited to cow-tipping and binge drinking.

[wagyl]

rodeos

I know you just want to be the humble Canadian, but you can't really call Calgary the countryside.

[Mike Oxlong]

rodeos

I know you just want to be the humble Canadian, but you can't really call Calgary the countryside.

Every small town has a rodeo.

[wagyl]

Including Calgary.

Just yanking your chain. Seriously, your description fit Calgary pretty well.

For the education of the rest of us, what happens at a show n shine?

[Mike Oxlong]

Including Calgary.

Just yanking your chain. Seriously, your description fit Calgary pretty well.

For the education of the rest of us, what happens at a show n shine?

Pretty rare for turkey shoots to be held in the city limits of a large city. Much more likely town or village land undeveloped land, or on a nearby farm allowing the event to use their land.

[Samurai_Jerk]

I find myself either insanely busy or entertained while I'm here but you'd think there would be some inaka entertainment setup by some creative folk here...oh, wait.... Shit, even copying the US trend, there are a million places here to setup ziplines and whatnot.

That strange binary thinking. Cities are for culture and partying, and the countryside is for camping and cow-tipping. Guess I was lucky to grow up with small town community theater, various sports leagues, show n' shines, pancake breakfasts and rodeos, Canada Day parades and concerts, museums not so far away that actually rotated exhibits and had visiting exhibits, historical sites and interpretive centers, Thanksgiving turkey dinners both at home and community ones, turkey shoots, and so much more. The countryside was different, but was not limited to cow-tipping and binge drinking.

The sad thing is that in North America a lot of what made small towns interesting disappeared as strip malls and chain restaurants took over. I hear the trend is starting to reverse in the US though. How about Canada?

[Mike Oxlong]

I find myself either insanely busy or entertained while I'm here but you'd think there would be some inaka entertainment setup by some creative folk here...oh, wait.... Shit, even copying the US trend, there are a million places here to setup ziplines and whatnot.

That strange binary thinking. Cities are for culture and partying, and the countryside is for camping and cow-tipping. Guess I was lucky to grow up with small town community theater, various sports leagues, show n' shines, pancake breakfasts and rodeos, Canada Day parades and concerts, museums not so far away that actually rotated exhibits and had visiting exhibits, historical sites and interpretive centers, Thanksgiving turkey dinners both at home and community ones, turkey shoots, and so much more. The countryside was different, but was not limited to cow-tipping and binge drinking.

The sad thing is that in North America a lot of what made small towns interesting disappeared as strip malls and chain restaurants took over. I hear the trend is starting to reverse in the US though. How about Canada?

I never heard many of those sorts of complaints from friend and family over the years of being away. There certainly are more chain restaurants in the larger towns and smaller cities these days. Whether that has really killed off the community spirit and sterilized the places or not I dunno.

[Samurai_Jerk]

I find myself either insanely busy or entertained while I'm here but you'd think there would be some inaka entertainment setup by some creative folk here...oh, wait.... Shit, even copying the US trend, there are a million places here to setup ziplines and whatnot.

That strange binary thinking. Cities are for culture and partying, and the countryside is for camping and cow-tipping. Guess I was lucky to grow up with small town community theater, various sports leagues, show n' shines, pancake breakfasts and rodeos, Canada Day parades and concerts, museums not so far away that actually rotated exhibits and had visiting exhibits, historical sites and interpretive centers, Thanksgiving turkey dinners both at home and community ones, turkey shoots, and so much more. The countryside was different, but was not limited to cow-tipping and binge drinking.

The sad thing is that in North America a lot of what made small towns interesting disappeared as strip malls and chain restaurants took over. I hear the trend is starting to reverse in the US though. How about Canada?

I never heard many of those sorts of complaints from friend and family over the years of being away. There certainly are more chain restaurants in the larger towns and smaller cities these days. Whether that has really killed off the community spirit and sterilized the places or not I dunno.

One thing that's tragic is what's happened to NYC, and especially Manhattan, over the last 20 years.

[matsuki]

I find myself either insanely busy or entertained while I'm here but you'd think there would be some inaka entertainment setup by some creative folk here...oh, wait.... Shit, even copying the US trend, there are a million places here to setup ziplines and whatnot.

That strange binary thinking. Cities are for culture and partying, and the countryside is for camping and cow-tipping. Guess I was lucky to grow up with small town community theater, various sports leagues, show n' shines, pancake breakfasts and rodeos, Canada Day parades and concerts, museums not so far away that actually rotated exhibits and had visiting exhibits, historical sites and interpretive centers, Thanksgiving turkey dinners both at home and community ones, turkey shoots, and so much more. The countryside was different, but was not limited to cow-tipping and binge drinking.

I said inaka stuff like locals doing ziplines, not welcome in the evil corporate overlords of fast food and entertainment. (Which are already there...but haven't really run the mom and pop places under)

[Mike Oxlong]

I find myself either insanely busy or entertained while I'm here but you'd think there would be some inaka entertainment setup by some creative folk here...oh, wait.... Shit, even copying the US trend, there are a million places here to setup ziplines and whatnot.

That strange binary thinking. Cities are for culture and partying, and the countryside is for camping and cow-tipping. Guess I was lucky to grow up with small town community theater, various sports leagues, show n' shines, pancake breakfasts and rodeos, Canada Day parades and concerts, museums not so far away that actually rotated exhibits and had visiting exhibits, historical sites and interpretive centers, Thanksgiving turkey dinners both at home and community ones, turkey shoots, and so much more. The countryside was different, but was not limited to cow-tipping and binge drinking.

I said inaka stuff like locals doing ziplines, not welcome in the evil corporate overlords of fast food and entertainment. (Which are already there...but haven't really run the mom and pop places under)

Not you particularly, just people in general. Countryside=diddly squat, city=everything and more. Sad, but true.

[Mike Oxlong]

Pachinko is ‘recreation for morons,’ magazine claims

Earlier this year, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe proposed a blueprint for what he calls “Ichi-oku So-katsuyaku Shakai” (A Society in Which All 100 Million Japanese Take Active Parts). So doing, the thinking goes, will fill in the gaps created by the falling birthrate and aging of the population.

Well, says a skeptical Jitsuwa Bunka Tabuu (January), the sad fact is that there’s one despicable group of people with no inclination at all to take an “active part” in society: pachinko players. About one Japanese in 12, or 9.7 million people, are said to engage in the pastime at the country’s 11,538 pachinko parlors, which each year rake in total revenues of about 18.8 trillion yen.

But for all the sound and fury of bouncing ball bearings, the magazine comments, we’re looking at a major industry that serves no useful purpose.

A man identified only as Mr A, works as an editor of a magazine for pachinko enthusiasts. He was transferred to his position from another job at the publishing company, despite the fact that he’d never set foot in a pachinko parlor in his life.

When he asked about the nature of the business from his peers at the office, they described it in somewhat unflattering terms as “s**t.”

They weren’t necessarily speaking figuratively. The men’s restrooms at some parlors sport signs requesting that the users “please defecate into the commode.” It seems that some losers take their resentment out on the shop, by depositing their excretions onto the floor, and in some cases even smearing the walls with poop.

“And that’s not all,” he says. “It’s common to see players pound on the machines, or destroy the internals by pouring coffee down the chute where the balls are inserted. I tell you, those places are like a zoo.”

Thievery is also said to be rampant at pachinko establishments.

“If a player leaves his seat just for a few moments, there’s a chance a thief will try to steal the “pakki kaado” (the prepaid cards that are inserted into the machines),” Mr A relates. “Start a conversation with the person seated on your right, and the guy on your left will rip off the card. And if you get up to use the toilet, someone will make off with your plastic receptacles used to keep balls paid out by the machine.

Then there are the so-called “goto-shi” (professional tricksters) who devise various methods, both electronic and manual, to make machines pay out jackpots.

Another phenomenon found in “adult entertainment zones” such as Kabukicho in Shinjuku is for prostitutes to cruise the shops and solicit business from males who appear to be big winners.

Considering their sleazy reputation, what explains pachinko’s long-term popularity?

“For the life of me I can’t understand its appeal,” replies Mr A. “I’ve noted that the pachinko machines set up at game arcades aren’t popular at all, and that leads me to conclude that the sole factor behind pachinko’s appeal is the mistaken prospect that people can make money from it.”

Roughly between 10 to 30% of the money paid by customers becomes revenues of the shop, so the odds are (naturally) in the house’s favor. Even if players come out ahead on occasion, loses are inevitable over the long term.

Pachinko’s popularity actually achieved something of a revival from 2006, when the so-called “one-yen pachinko” system—by which one yen was paid out on each ball redeemed—began to be popularized. Now some shops have adopted the one-yen system exclusively.

“In so-called ‘one-yen pachinko’ (in which the return is one yen per ball), the players actually lay out about 4 yen per ball,” Mr A explains. “So when people cash in their winnings, their take is only one-fourth of their initial outlay. To be honest, it should really be called ‘0.25-yen pachinko.’”

While pachinko’s customer base has been aging along with the population as a whole, this has not necessarily cut into revenues. Recently the media reported that the Kobe City assembly revised an ordinance that had previously banned gambling activities such as pachinko and mahjongg at publicly operated rest homes. It seems that someone came up with the notion that a “pachinko rehabilitation experience”—in which the inhabitants are transported to parlors where they are encouraged to engage in “therapy”—would provide them with healthy stimulation.

Now, similar programs have begun spreading to other parts of the country. How shameful, the magazine remarks, to see the pachinko industry descend to the level that it feels it has to put the squeeze on senile geezers to generate more income.

“Pachinko has no future,” Mr A asserts. “If those of you reading this article play pachinko, you should quit while you’re ahead.”

http://www.japantoday.com/category/kuch ... ine-claims