27 June 2009

What's the Deal With Pachinko?

I didn't visit any Pachinko establishments. Before I left for Japan, one of friends in Hokkaido said it was like a drug. Interesting comment, I thought, and decided that with my horrendous luck at things as simple as UFO machines, I would abstain. But curiosity will probably get the best of me on my next foray, especially after seeing lines of people waiting for places to open, like this line in Akihabara:


The line extended around the corner and most of the way down the block. If you look in the distance, you will see a small white and red sign. That's where the entrance was. What is the attraction of little silver balls zinging through a machine just to win some small novelty? If money was coming out of the machine, I might have been in this photo.

Three year-old news on the J-Blog-o-Sphere, but goofy enough to visit again:

2 comments:

  1. I shall goooooo in your place!! I'm going to try my luck at the UFO stands and hopefully get a truck full..er...I mean some plushies :D

    ReplyDelete
  2. I have a total of one small plushie from our trip, won from a 100 yen machine. I think it cost around 2500 yen. Urgh!

    ReplyDelete

Don't be shy! But please be nice.

Share this post on Facebook or recommend it to JapanSoc