Pachinko
Pachinko ( Japanese パ チ ン コ ) is a mix of slot machine and vertical arcade game that is very popular in Japan . The often colorfully designed pachinko gambling halls with dozen, sometimes even hundreds, of machines can be found all over Japan today. The noise level from the slot machines, music and announcements (big wins, special promotions) is usually very high.
functionality
The player buys a number (usually hundreds to thousands) of small metal balls, fills them into the top of the device and can then use a lever to determine how fast they are shot onto the playing field. The stream of balls falls down through a maze of pins, channels and flaps. Most of the balls disappear as rivets, but one of the balls always falls into one of the special holes, which has one of the following effects:
- A certain amount of new balls is given out
- The labyrinth will be reconfigured for a short time so that there will be greater chances of winning
- The mechanism that is built into the middle of the game and resembles a slot machine is triggered, which then pays out winnings of different sizes (in the form of new balls)
Pachinko machines initially worked purely electromechanically and had no slot machine part. The latter was first introduced in the form of the classic three-reel system, but is nowadays becoming more and more complex due to the massive use of computer technology and almost dominates the game. Instead of mechanical displays, LCDs predominate, on which small stories are told with mascots and various symbols that end in success (profit) or failure.
Profit opportunities
Since in Japan - with the exception of the state lottery and the state-controlled betting system - there is a general ban on money prizes, there are no cash prizes in pachinko. The game prize, which consists of metal balls, may only be exchanged for prizes with a value of less than 10,000 yen, such as lighters or perfume bottles. The prizes also include fine gold bars with an individual value of less than 10,000 yen. Any number of these can be spent according to the profit.
In the immediate vicinity of most pachinko amusement arcades, there are stalls that buy these prizes, especially fine gold bars, for cash , whereby the seller and buyer often cannot see each other due to a privacy screen. This bypasses the prohibition on making money.
Alternatively, the game balls can also be paid into an account with the arcade operator and later withdrawn for a continuation of the game.
Economical meaning
Since casinos are not allowed in Japan and bets are only allowed in horse , bike and boat races , the legal game of pachinko is very popular. 16 million Japanese visited the pachinko halls regularly in 2008. They spent approximately 250 billion yen annually on the game of pachinko around the year 2000. In Japan there are around 16,000 pachinko halls and an estimated 34,000 professional players, some of whom are said to win up to 6,000 euros per month, others claim to have made over 100,000 euros. With Pachinko TV there is also its own television station that broadcasts daily programs with information and reports about Pachinko.
However, the importance of the game has been falling sharply since the 1990s. Between 2002 and 2012, the number of regular players halved, but the income fell less than the number of players from 31 billion yen (1992) to 19 billion yen in 2012. Between 2006 and 2012, however, the proportion of those under 30 Year olds from 5% to 9%. This development coincides in 2014 with plans to legalize casinos for the first time in Japan in order to finance the costs of infrastructure measures for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. In addition, a tax of 1% on the sales of the pachinko halls is being discussed in 2014, whereby the operators are demanding an express legalization of their business in return.
Foreign exchange procurement for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea
About 70% of all pachinko halls in Japan are run by native Koreans , and about 3,000 are under the direct influence of the Ch'ongryŏn , a pro North Korean association. It is estimated that up to 200 billion yen (around 1.2 billion euros) could flow into North Korea from the pachinko business annually.
Computer games
With " Visual Pinball " there is the possibility to play many originals copied by users on the PC.
See also
Web links
- Mangajin Magazine: Pachinko - Japan's National Pastime (English)
- How to play Pachinko ( Memento from March 12, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Pachinko - steel bath in the gambling den. In: DasErste.de. Archived from the original on March 30, 2010 ; Retrieved on August 15, 2012 (ARD Weltspiegel, July 12, 2009).
- ^ A secular miracle . Le Monde diplomatique - English edition
- ↑ Modern Japan - Entertainment - Pachinko.
- ^ Facing decline, Japan's pachinko industry tries offering a clean, well-lighted place . Reuters, August 19, 2014
- ↑ Bloomberg Businessweek: Japan's Pachinko Industry Eyes a Big Gamble , July 10, 2014
- ↑ Pachinko seeks to shed shady image as market shrinks . Japan Times, September 25, 2007