In Japan the pachinko machines keep being the most important aspect in the gambling industry of japan, the vertical pinball-like slot machines regularly topping approximately $200 billion every year.
This number even though is big, its says nothing without a context, so only with the pachinko machines japan earns the double than what they earn by the automobile exports, is important to highlight that they have brands such as Nissan, Toyota, Lexus, Mazda, Honda, Suzuki, Mitsubishi and more.
Or compared the pachinko number to another gambling revenue give us the result that it can be even 30 times above those regularly recorded by all the casinos in Las Vegas and even higher than the entire gross domestic product of New Zealand.
This sector is passing through some rough moment regarding the recent passage of legislation that reduced the machines’ maximum prize amount to $450. And its future seems dark because they are having trouble with attracting younger players, also in regards of the future casino´s that will land to the island.
However, Min Jin Lee (writer of New York times Bestseller “pachinko”, pcitured) who revealed that roughly 1.5 million new machines are manufactured each year, said:
“One out of eleven Japanese people play it once a week. Once a week. So, it isn’t like if you and I went to some silly place. It’s not like Vegas where you go once a year or once every ten years and say ‘Oh, I’m going to be a bride so let’s go crazy’. It isn’t like that at all.”
