Pachinko and other Addictions: Escaping Reality?
Friday, March 31, 2017
The ubiquitous and unique Japanese pachinko parlour |
Pachinko is not the only exception to the "no gambling" rule in Japan. Horse, boat, and bicycle racing are immensely popular, especially amongst older men. You will often see such guys clutching specialist sports newspapers on the bus or train on the weekend as they make their way to the track or riverside. With one eye on tourism, especially Tokyo the 2020 Olympics, the government pushed through a law to legalise casinos in December 2016, ignoring widespread public fears of a rise in gambling addiction (gyanburu izonshō =依存症). This week, the government belatedly drew-up an addiction prevention law, a first in a country with more than 5 million suspected gambling addicts, a very high number given that gambling is in principle illegal. Watching the lines of (mostly) men lose themselves in the hypnotic smoke, noise, and lights that is pachinko on evenings and weekends, the bigger question is: what exactly are these people trying to escape from?