Pachinko

Pachinko (パチンコ?) is a Japanese gaming device used for amusement and gambling. A pachinko machine resembles a vertical pinball machine, but with no flippers and a large number of relatively small balls. The player fires a ball up into the machine, controlling only its initial speed. The ball then cascades down through a dense forest of pins. In most cases, the ball falls to the bottom and is lost, but if it instead goes into certain pockets, more balls are released as a jackpot. Pachinko machines were originally strictly mechanical, but modern ones have incorporated extensive electronics, becoming similar to video slot machines.

The machines are widespread in establishments called "pachinko parlors", which also often feature a number of slot machines. Pachinko parlors share the reputation of slot machine dens and casinos the world over — garish decoration; over-the-top architecture; a low-hanging haze of cigarette smoke; the constant din of the machines, music, and announcements; and flashing lights. Modern pachinko machines are highly customizable, keeping enthusiasts continuously entertained.

Because gambling for cash is illegal in Japan and Taiwan, balls won cannot be exchanged directly for cash in the parlor. Instead, the balls are exchanged for token prizes, which can then be taken outside and traded in for cash at a business that is nominally separate from the parlor, and may be run by organized crime (yakuza).

Pachinko machines were first built during the 1920s as a children's toy called "corinth game" (コリントゲーム korinto gēmu?); based on and named after an American game called "Corinthian Bagatelle". Pachinko then emerged as an adult pastime in Nagoya around 1930. All of Japan's pachinko parlors were closed down during World War II, but re-emerged in the late 1940s and have remained popular since then. Taiwan also has many pachinko establishments due to Japan's influence during their occupation in the early 1900s.

Until about 1980, pachinko machines were mechanical devices. These machines are gravity-fed, meaning that the balls always flow downward, except when powered by a human: either the playing shooting a ball, or an employee opening up the cabinet and putting more balls in the feeder bin at the top. When the player wins, a bell is rung by the mechanical action of the newly acquired balls flowing through the machine. Electricity (10 volts DC) is used only to flash a light when the player wins and to indicate problems, such as a machine that has been emptied of its balls. The player launches balls using a chrome flipper, and can control the speed of the balls to some extent by pulling the flipper down to different levels. The front panel has a tray for balls that are ready to be played, a tray into which balls can be emptied when the player is ready to quit, and an ashtray. Manufacturers in this period included Nishijin and Sankyo. Most machines available on online auction sites today date to the 1970s.

Starting around 1980, pachinko machines began to incorporate more and more electronic features, and began to require electricity for operation. Rather than a mechanical chrome flipper, these machines have a round knob that can be rotated to control the speed of the balls.