A mind-blowing amount seems to be spent by Japanese gamblers on an annual basis on pachinko, as the vertical pinball-like slot machines are known. Each year, local citizens spend approximately $200 billion on the game, with the amount being 30 times larger than the annual gambling revenue generated by Las Vegas casino industry, Business Insider reports.
Despite the fact that most gambling activities are suspended in Japan, pachinko is still operating in a legal grey area in the country and is currently one of the most popular forms of gambling. For the time being, there are about 10,600 pachinko parlours operating across the country, offering players rows of flashing slot-like machines.
The main objective of the game is to drop as many silver balls as possible into a middle scoring hole by controlling the balls with a wheel. Every ball equals to a certain amount of points which bring a variety of prizes. However, a player could choose not to get their prize but convert the points to cash in a special cash exchange which once used to be controlled by the yakuza mafia in Japan.
As mentioned above, pachinko is extremely popular among Japanese gamblers, who usually spent hours in pachinko parlours. Currently, more people are hired in the industry than in the top 10 car manufacturers in Japan. In spite of the massive popularity of the game, the number of pachinko parlours across Japan has been suffering a decline no matter than such parlours are more aggressively trying to attract younger players. A massive decline has been marked in the parlours as the sector ages rapidly, with their number being almost one-third lower than in 2005.
Also, anti-gambling campaigners have been trying to tackle the possible negative effects of pachinko on local players. As a result, several new laws have been rolled out to try and limit the addictive nature of this type of gambling by cutting the maximum payout given by each pachinko machine by one-third.
Could Casinos Break Pachinko’s Hegemony?
Currently, gambling activities have been generally banned on the territory of Japan, only with a number of exceptions being made for horse racing, some auto races, and recently, for the casino industry. Literally days ago, the country saw the Diet finally give the green light to the long-expected casino gambling expansion, which opened the country’s casino market.
For some time now, there have been speculations that the pachinko sector could suffer a great blow in case that the ban on Japan’s casino industry is lifted. As previously reported by Casino Guardian, Japanese lawmakers have finally greenlighted local casinos. The latter would be allowed to exists only as part of larger complexes, known as integrated resorts. Apart from the limited number of integrated casino resorts, which are to be allowed at three locations only, Japanese people would be able to visit casino venues up to three times a week or ten times a month and would have to pay a ¥6,000 entrance fee.
Experts have already estimated the newly-opened casino market as a highly-profitable one, with billions in profit and taxes expected to be generated by Japanese casinos. The effects of casino gambling on pachinko sector are yet to be revealed. Old habits die hard, so it is still unknown whether casinos would be able to break pachinko’s hegemony in the country’s gambling industry, or not.
- Author
Daniel Williams
