Japan/Kyushu: Kitakyushu – Pachinko Gaming Parlor
Japan has a lot of strange things and one of the biggest one is pachinko and the addition to gambling (technically illegal). Pachinko is a machine that resembles a pinball machine with smaller balls. You buy the balls for tokens, that you have previously bought for cash, and then load them in the machine, they roll down and depending on how they land, you get paid out in more balls that you can later exchange for tokens, that you convert later for cash. Insane? Exactly! There are pachinko parlors all over Japan, nearly 9% of Japanese are addicted to playing pachinko, the industry employs nearly half a million people and generates more revenue than Vegas, Macau, and Singapore combined! Insane? Exactly! One of the reasons of widespread pachinko gambling and addiction is that during the long downturn of the Japanese economy, millions turned to this light form of gambling to make ends meet.
