You may or may not have heard about Pachinko. A ‘technically’ gambling game in a country where gambling is in fact, illegal. In Japan.
In 2021, there were almost 8 million regular Pachinko players in Japan. It even makes up 4% of the total GDP of the country. It is played in parlours where there are often over 300 machines. Sometimes people sit and play all day long. But why?
Because it is so addictive - and it’s possible to win some decent money, but with than comes great losses. Studies from 2014 show that around 9% of Japanese men have a gambling addiction (even though Pachinko is technically not gambling) compared to under 2% of men in the US.
Gambling is illegal in Japan, but Pachinko is a famous exception because it is viewed as an amusement activity or more simply, a game, rather than a gambling activity. The reason being is, you don’t directly win money, but rather tokens which are then exchanged for cash.
And why does the government allow this?
- Well probably because it makes up 4% of the country’s GDP. That’s twice the car industry export revenue in Japan and more than the entire GDP of New Zealand. In addition, it makes four times more revenue than the total profit of worldwide legal casino gambling.
If you’re totally engrossed in these mind-boggling facts, then here is a YouTube video which explains it all in detail. It is crazy!
Did you know about this?
