1962: Nagoya goes PACHINKO CRAZY! | Classic BBC Reports | Tonight | BBC Archive

Trevor Philpott travelled to Nagoya to report on the Pachinko craze that was sweeping across Japan.
Bewildered by what makes this simple game so addictive, he also goes behind the scenes at a factory where the machines are made before cashing in his winnings from the day's playing.
Originally broadcast 2 May, 1962.
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[@danorthsidemang3834]

"A type of disease" Most apt way to describe this infernal excuse for a game.

[@hawaiiguykailua6928]

Now it's rebranded as a "smartphone" only its a much, much worse addiction😔😏

[@BeingJapan]

There are pachinko places all over Japan, but I have seen them disappear from smaller towns in recent years. I live in Nagoya and didn't know that pachinko originated here. The nationwide pachinko companies advertise on TV. I tried it once, with 1,000 yen, 25 years ago. I lost the 1,000 yen but gained the knowledge that it wasn't much fun and that I wouldn't do it again.

[@simmadpaul2880]

Did you spot the Subaru? The car company has come a long way. For those who don't know it looks a bit like an original FIAT 500 (timestamp 0:49)

[@timestampingarmy]

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[@SanderAnderon]

this craze overwhelmed my family's Los Angeles home in 1965 when a cousin in the Navy came home from Vietnam via Japan with one. We all got hooked for about a year till coming to our senses, whew!

[@jacobstuntz8617]

I find it crazy that this game is not popular enough in the US to sustain business. Maybe with American themes and american language they would be more popular?

[@Shipwright1918]

Slot machines in the west pretty well fill the niche pachinko machines have in the east, just with direct payout instead of the rule-skirting trading of balls for prizes then trading the prizes for cash employed in Japan. Closest thing to it over here are ticket redemption games in arcades, which is pretty well kiddie gambling when you get down to it. Pachinko does have a decent following in the west, as many thousands of machines were imported from Japan to make a little more money off of them when their licenses expired (each machine can only be used in the parlors for one year, then it must be sold off or destroyed). In the west, they're mostly used as novelties or for pure amusement like a pinball machine, which overall I think is a better use for them than as a gambling device.

[@gilltom8034]

So you’re saying that there was enough access to pachinko to become a serious addiction problem for some people in Los Angeles in 1965, right? I had no idea it had made any impact at all outside Japan, and, briefly, South Korea. Thanks for the insight!

[@bradybrapples]

@@gilltom8034 i think he was saying that his relative brought home a individual machine, not that there were pachinko parlors or anything like that

[@aurora_skye]

I've got a book called Pachinko recently that I haven't read yet, and didn't know why it was called that, I do now!

[@jdmspotter]

reminder: Always clean your camera lens before you start shooting!

[@isuzu008]

Pachinko is a addictive past time in Japan to this very day.

[@pressureworks]

9:53 I have no life, no wife. So whiskey it is.

[@timestampingarmy]

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[@izumo4283]

パチンコはコロナ19によりかなり店舗が減りました。

[@MichaelBosley]

Claustrophobic fire hazards. Wouldn't want to be the furthest from the fire exit in these places.

[@timestampingarmy]

5:43

[@pressureworks]

A rare Godzilla free day in Japan.

[@timestampingarmy]

😅

[@christopherharmon2433]

IIRC the Yakuza made a lot of Yen off of the game.

[@bradybrapples]

North Korea did too - a lot of ethnic koreans ran them and sent millions back to the hermit kingdom, and a lot of the yakuza are ethnically korean as well

[@professormcclaine5738]

Where's my Panchinko app!!!

[@rockets4kids]

Any app with in-game purchases would qualify here!!!

[@jeanlefranc3817]

Finally, addiction to Instagram isn’t something new, in fact.

[@davedogge2280]

The grandchildren of these players just play Diablo IV, it's basically the same thing.

[@hawaiiguykailua6928]

Trust me, every ounce of thought went into exporting this world wide. And it was, in 2007, by Apple. We now call Pachinko a "smartphone", but it's way worse than pachinko ever was to collective humanity.

[@Idler_JP]

I play a very old version of this game, even more rudimentary than those shown in the video. You get 25 glass balls for 100 yen. That's about 60 US cents at the time of my comment. You can win, like in the video, snacks, souvenirs, etc. A few years ago, they discontinued rewards of cases of cigarettes... thank goodness. In the real modern version, it has become even more sinister; the machines are clearly rigged, and an "unaffiliated" hole-in-the-wall nearby will simply buy your balls back for cash. It's not "gambling", of course, in the same sense that Japanese adult videos are not "pornography". Occasionally after work, I play for an hour at my ultra-retro place, spending a dollar or two, and go home with a packet of crisps. The old machines are rather fun, and almost completely analogue. The modern versions feature obscene levels of sound effects, flashing lights, anime-crossover themes, etc., and are still considered parasitic, addictive money-milking machines. Actually, even more so, since this video was produced, as the ball-launching is clearly randomised according to some algorithm. I tried a modern machine once, when I first arrived in Japan 12 years ago. 1000 yen disappeared in less than 1 minute; I haven't been back.

[@johnathandaviddunster38]

And I thought watching KZbin was mind numbing ....

[@M-Is-For-Margaret]

I wonder what the lowest amount is and what that gets you today. Is it possible to exchange a few balls for a biscuit? How many for a bottle of whiskey?

[@TinLeadHammer]

I tried a slot machine in Las Vegas once. It was so boring, I rushed to spend the money I had allotted for it, and never came back. At least when you play poker or blackjack or even roulette you have some human interaction. But then again, the Japanese are known to be a nation of recluses. I think the U.S. is turning into such a nation as well: drive a car instead of using public transportation, increasingly work from home, order goods on the Web. This is not good for social skills. Some people even avoid phone calls, preferring messaging just not to talk to another person.

[@M-Is-For-Margaret]

Did you play the fruits or the 7s? My favorite ones are the slot machines with a theme, like the Wizard of Oz or the Egyptian or the Wheel of Fortune or the Monopoly slot machines.

[@syncopatedsteve]

Analogue social media. Aimlessly scrolling, hunting for the next dopamine hit. Zombies.

[@fidelcatsro6948]

yum yum look at all those reliable little Japanese rust buckets on 4 wheels rolling down the street!

[@2430Music]

milking machines...

[@LeenieVibes]

But it's only MEN! Hahahaha!

[@skyworm8006]

i saw some women in the footage. probably single working women, not housewives like most at the time.

[@fidelcatsro6948]

5:08 to 5:18 : Women left the chat..

[@timestampingarmy]

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[@rockets4kids]

5:08

[@timestampingarmy]

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