Pachinko

A pachinko machine resembles a vertical pinball machine, but is different from Western pinball in several ways. It uses small (11 mm diameter) steel balls, which the owner (usually a "pachinko parlor", featuring many individual games in rows) rents to the player, while pinball games use a larger, captive ball.

The player loads one or more balls into the machine, then presses and releases a spring-loaded handle, which is attached to a padded hammer inside the machine, launching the ball(s) into a metal track. The track guides the ball over the top of the playing field; then when it loses momentum, it falls into the playing field. Some pachinko machines have a bumper to bounce the ball as it reaches the top, while others allow it to travel all the way around the field, to fall the second time it reaches the top.

The playing field is populated by numerous brass pins, several small cups into which the player hopes the ball will fall (each catcher is barely the width of the ball), and a hole at the bottom into which the ball falls if it does not enter a catcher. The ball bounces from pin to pin, both slowing its descent and deflecting it laterally across the field. A ball that enters a catcher triggers a payout, in which a number of balls are dropped into a tray at the front of the machine.[9]

Many games made since the 1960s feature "tulip" catchers, which have small flippers that open to expand the width of the catcher. They are controlled by the machine, and may open and close randomly or in a pattern; expert players try to launch a ball so it reaches the catcher when its flippers are open.[9]

The game's object is to win as many balls as possible, which can be exchanged for prizes. Pachinko machines were originally strictly mechanical, but have since incorporated extensive electronics, becoming similar to video slot machines. Another type of machine often found in pachinko parlors, called a "pachislot", does not involve steel balls, but are loaded with tokens or coins and trigger reels comparable to those of a traditional slot machine. Online casinos also offer "pachislot" games to tailor their product to the Japanese market.

Pachinko machines were first built during the 1920s as a children's toy called the "Corinth game" (コリントゲーム, korinto gēmu), based on and named after the American "Corinthian bagatelle".[10] Another likely inspiration was the Billard japonais, 'Japanese billiards', invented in Western Europe during the 18th century. It emerged as an adult pastime in Nagoya around 1930, and spread from there.[11]

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.[11] As a country influenced by Japan during its occupation, Taiwan has many pachinko establishments.[12]

An estimated 80 percent of pachinko parlors in Japan are owned by ethnic Koreans.[12] In 2001, British company BS Group bought a stake in Tokyo Plaza, which was running almost 20 parlors in all of Japan, and had also opened parlors in the United Kingdom.

Until the 1980s, pachinko machines were mechanical devices,[13] 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.[14] 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.[13] After that time, pachinko machines incorporated more electronic features, thus requiring electricity for operation.

• 
  Billard japonais, Southern Germany/Alsace c. 1750–70
• 
  A pre-war pachinko machine
• 
  A mechanical pachinko machine from the 1970s
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  A modern, electronic pachinko machine in a Tokyo parlor

The entrance to a pachinko parlor in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan

To play pachinko, players get a number of metal balls by inserting cash or cards directly into the machine they want to use. They then shoot the balls into the machine. Older pachinko machines use a spring-loaded lever for shooting balls individually; while later ones use a round knob, controlling the strength of a mechanically fired plunger that shoots the balls. The balls fall vertically through an array of pins, levers, cups, traps and obstacles until they enter a payoff target or reach the bottom of the playfield.

The player has a chance to get more balls if a launched ball lands in one of certain places as it falls. Having more balls is considered a benefit because it allows the player to remain in the game longer, and ultimately creates a larger winning chance.[15]

Newer "pachislot" machines have a digital slot machine display on a large screen, where the objective is to get three numbers or symbols in a row for a jackpot. When fired, the balls drop through an array of pins, similar to a pachinko machine. Some fall into a center gate and activate the slot-machine display.

Every ball that goes into the center gate results in one spin, 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 machine's programming decides the outcome of each spin.

Payout mode

The inside workings of a pachinko machine being pulled out of a parlor

If the first two numbers, letters, or symbols of the spin match up, the digital program will display many animations before the third reel stops spinning, to give the player an added excitement. This is called a reach (or rīchi) and sometimes longer animations are played called super reaches. Pachinko machines offer different odds in hitting a jackpot; if the player manages to 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 many balls being dropped into a separate tray at the bottom of the machine, which can then be placed into a ball bucket.

Pachinko balls

Winnings take the form of additional balls, which players may either use to keep playing or exchange for prizes (keihin (景品)). 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.[6]

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. Some modern machines can count the balls automatically, without the need for staff. The player then hands it in at the parlor's exchange center to get their prizes. Among the array of prizes available, there will invariably be an item known as the "special prize" (tokushu keihin (特殊景品) typically a small silver or gold novelty item encased in plastic) that can be sold for cash at an outside establishment in the vicinity of the parlor.[6]

Special prizes are awarded to the player in amounts corresponding to the number of balls won. For example, one special prize worth ¥1500 outside the parlor might be offered to a customer per 400 balls won, assuming each ball originally cost 4 yen. The vast majority of players opt for the maximum number of special prizes offered for their ball total, selecting other prizes only when they have a remaining total too small to receive a special prize.[6]

Besides the special prizes, prizes may be as simple as chocolate bars, 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 establishment located nearby, separate from the game parlor but sometimes in a separate unit as part of the same building, where players may sell special prizes for cash. This is tolerated by the police because the pachinko parlors that pay out goods and special prizes are nominally independent from the shops that buy back the special prizes.[1]

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 away with their influence.[6] In Tokyo, the special prize exchange is handled exclusively by the Tokyo Union Circulation company (known as TUC), which sells pachinko and slot parlors gold slivers in standardized plastic cases, which it buys back from winning customers at its "TUC Shop" windows.[19]

The three-shop system[20] is a system employed by pachinko parlors to exchange for keihin (prizes), usually with items such as cigarette lighters or ball-point pens. These items are carried to a nearby shop and exchanged for cash as a way of circumventing gambling laws.

Many arcade video games in Japan feature pachinko models from different times. They offer more playing time for the same amount of money, and have balls that can be exchanged only for game tokens to play other games in the establishment. As many of these arcades are smoke-free and gambling is removed, they are popular venues for casual players, newcomers, children, and those wanting to play in a more relaxed atmosphere.

In such arcades, thrifty gamblers may spend a small amount on a newly released pachinko model to get a feel for the machine before going to a real parlor. These machines can also be found in many stores, where they pay out capsules containing a prize coupon or store credit.

A 2014 study showed that pathological gambling tendencies among Japanese adults was 9.04% in men and 1.6% in women, higher than the North American prevalence of 1.6%, particularly for men.[24] In 1999, 29% of players thought of themselves as addicted and needing treatment. Another 30% said they exceeded their budgets and borrowed money to play.[3]

A number of media franchises, mainly the media mix—including Japanese film, anime, manga, television and video game franchises—have generated significant revenue from sales of licensed pachinko and pachislot machines to pachinko parlors and amusement arcades.[25] Sega Sammy Holdings and Konami are two major license holders for most media mix pachinko machines.[26]

• Bean machine
• Pachinko allocation
• Plinko, a game similar to pachinko, featured on the American game show The Price Is Right
• Visual Pinball, a software game engine for creating computer game simulations of pachinko and pinball machines
• The Wall, an American game show, features a four-story-high pegboard wall similar to Plinko and Pachinko

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Pachinko.

• History of Pachinko Archived 13 January 2019 at the Wayback Machine