ABSTRACT
Pachinko is a vertical pinball game that is often claimed to be the single most popular leisure activity in the country. Once an inexpensive game where winnings were traded in for small prizes, biscuits, chocolates or cigarettes, Pachinko is now far more professionalised both in terms of gaming technology and the skill base of players. The clammer of ball bearings, clatter of mechanisms, dinging of bells and ubiquitous loud music entice passers-by in off the streets to line up for their plastic basket of ball-bearings and wait their turn for a favourite machine.
