Pachinko, Gacha coin slots and Digital Gacha games were everywhere in Japan. The Japanese sure love RNG.

@OoiJeeHao

26 күн бұрын

Yakuza 0 again

@TheZebracakez

26 күн бұрын

They approved the building of that big casino in Osaka too. I guess it's not so bad, really. Gambling more or less okay according to Japan so they may as well open up a casino and try to attract foreign money into Japan. Lord knows they need it now.

@MagickP00dle

26 күн бұрын

Japan also produces so many trading card games compared to the rest of the world. In the US the big ones are Magic the Gathering, Pokémon and Yu-Gi-Oh, but I see cards from hundreds of other TCGs from anime and Japanese video games on eBay. I wonder if this is a related trend because it seems like a market that is easily dominated by a few large games.

@gregoryturk1275

26 күн бұрын

I love RNG

@Nico745

25 күн бұрын

Or pseudo RNG

Japanese government: It's not gambling, it's "surprise mechanics".

@kaltaron1284

17 күн бұрын

Also "It's not prostitution, it's keeping company."

@bishop51807

3 күн бұрын

As well as "they're not Yakuza, they're legit businessman."

I avoid gambling like the plague. I worked to hard to lose my money to chance, addiction, or both.

@berndb3141

26 күн бұрын

Same. No sports betting, no slot machines for me

@mariannerichard1321

26 күн бұрын

I much prefer normal video games, they cost so much less and are so much more fun.

@IAmNotYourProblem

24 күн бұрын

Same. I don’t even like playing the claw game at supermarkets. I do go to the arcade every now and then, but more so to PLAY the games than to gamble- like playing skeeball and clown down, not slots or anything left to chance.

5 күн бұрын

I just use the sign up promotions and leave, this actually makes the RTP go above 100%.

@five12man

5 күн бұрын

Smart. The allure is strong, best to avoid temptation. And bad chance

Growing up in Nevada I never had a real desire to gamble. It's everywhere - casinos in every town, slot machines in grocery stores. Maybe I just became numb to it. Definitely for the best.

@danusdragonfly6640

26 күн бұрын

Slot machines in grocery stores? 😲 That seems crazy to me!

@triburst

26 күн бұрын

The gas station ones always crack me up

@reverendfawkes6138

25 күн бұрын

Fellow Nevadan here. I'm surprised we don't see them in hospitals... give it time, though.

@juniyananajukyu

13 күн бұрын

@@danusdragonfly6640in 7-11s too 😂😂😂

@gabrielserrano5054

5 күн бұрын

In the uk even kids can play slot machines up to 10 pounds.

Glad to see you're back shogo!.

I remember when I did my exchange program, the University I was at informed me that if we were ever to play or take part in Pachinko or Hostess/Host clubs. They expel us and have us sent back home. One can see why.

@kaltaron1284

25 күн бұрын

I don't remember that being the case for me but the noise and smell of a Pachinko parlor is enough to keep me away.

I did not realize Pachinko was such a problem. I can see how it could become an addiction, especially when it's not considered gambling and society doesn't label it a bad thing.

This really explains why there were game corners in the earlier pokemon games I played as a child. I never understood what they were there for, and although they focused more on slot machines roulette, it's still so shocking to me that they'd have something like that in a game that kids especially played.

My mother was working at a department store during the mid 70s when some companies began importing used Pachinko machines to the US. It was a bad idea because the instruction sheets were all in Japanese with no English translations, so nobody could figure out how to play unless they spoke Japanese. She also said the ball bearings were loose in the boxes, so they were constantly chasing the things all over the floor.

@dannylo5875

26 күн бұрын

😂

@jeannerogers7085

23 күн бұрын

LOLOLOLOL

Here in America it's even worse, you can now gamble on sports games on your phone, it's ridiculous. How many people here became homeless because of their gambling addiction, it's insane. Btw, I love your yukata/kimono -- the fabric is amazing just beautiful. Japanese style is tight.

@Miss_Wonderful1

26 күн бұрын

Same in Italy. Betting and online casinos are even claiming lives but, as long as the government can gobble money, everything is swept under the rug.

@kukuhimanputraraharja8084

25 күн бұрын

gambling is a serious problem in every countries it seems.

@anas-432

22 күн бұрын

Gambling is a scam, in the end the house always wins and the odds are too random to ensure winning

very interesting, but so sad :( i've seen a few cases of people addicted to the gambling game machines at gas stations when i worked there. they always seemed very isolated and agitated. hopefully more people can get the help they need. also, great to see you back and i love your new hairstyle!

I knew gambling was a problem in Japan, but I didn't think it was this bad.

gambling can be fun, but always remember the house (gambling place) always wins in the end. You may win a little but the longer you play the more you will lose.

@kaltaron1284

25 күн бұрын

Knowing stochastics killed gambling with money very quickly for me.

@johnrivers3813

24 күн бұрын

Slots and other big game systems like that are rigged to only win after a certain amount of plays. Only card games do you have some sort of chance but it's still not in your favor unless you can count cards

@streamingnowstreamingnow2568

5 күн бұрын

house ain't winning squat in Poker.

@kaltaron1284

5 күн бұрын

@@streamingnowstreamingnow2568 Ever heard of rake and time charges? So they might not be "winning" the game exactly but they still get money out of you.

I suspect the indirect relationship between the payouts and the cash make it worse. In casinos in other countries, the chips still make it clear how much you're betting and losing to some degree.

It doesn't help that Japanese entertainment gets people hooked on gambling at a young age with gacha mechanics in video games.

In Chile, those machines are called "tragamonedas," literally, "swallowcoins." Around 2018-2019, they were spreading everywhere with machines placed in small commerce, and dedicated salons; gambling addiction was increasing and making headlines. For the small shop owners, it was a source of income, as they got a part of the money, so they liked them. In my neighborhood there was a 24/7 dedicated salon (right next to a 24/7 liquor store) and machines in several shops. In Chile, gambling is forbidden by law, only allowed in authorized casinos and things like official lotteries or charity raffles (there are legal horse races and a betting system on soccer matches). So, the heated argument was whether those machines operated on skill or luck. A bunch of municipalities didn't wait for the resolution of the argument and simply forbade them (mine included); Chilean municipalities have a lot of autonomous power. Covid did the rest. Now, the machines are found mostly in licensed casinos and the few municipalities that allow them.

Thank you for this video. I recall that when I visited Japan for my first time back in 2019, I visited a pachinko parlor out of curiosity. Using my smartphone, I measured the sound intensity of the parlor. It was in the morning so the parlor was about 10% full of patrons, and the sound level was *92 decibels!* Very loud! I can't imagine the sound level when the parlor is fully occupied!

@jeannerogers7085

23 күн бұрын

Wow!

So happy to you back brother

I've wondered about this myself, I noticed people in Japan sure seem to love Pachinko and similar "colourful, bright and flashy" games.

I see a lot of people fall for this. My daily commute actually has me pass by one of those pachinko place just to get to and from the station. I never get why it's always crowded and seeing that i have also noticed that there been advertisements on social media for online gambling. It's getting worse every day now with the amount of addicts, not just in japan but globally

Back in the mid ‘90s when I was a teenager and lived in Tokyo, it was so easy to get into pachinko parlors with no questions asked.

@johnrivers3813

24 күн бұрын

Do they even have an age restriction on playing pachinko?

@specialk9999

24 күн бұрын

@@johnrivers3813 yeah it’s 20 I think

Happy to see your return.

The thumbnail goes hard

@Arekusando

25 күн бұрын

Like Japanese Olivier Swanick "YEAH! Who won the lottery? I did! Look at these yens, can't you just drink 'em like sake, ahaha'

So happy you’re back, Shogo! Hope you and your family are doing well.

I thought it had too many gambling addicts because they were Kaiji fans.

What a coincidence that this topic comes up after I watched videos about a gambling streamer with an extreme addiction and thinking a little bit about the Kaiji manga series yesterday. Keep it up with the great videos Shogo!

I'm genetically predisposed to addictive tendencies. Thank you for this warning. I know now to avoid participating in Pachinko if I visit Japan.

@ethics3

26 күн бұрын

Wow. What a great thing for you to CLAIM to have . By saying you are " genetically predisposed" to " addictive" things , you free yourself completely from any and all responsibility for YOUR OWN ACTIONS !!! Of coarse thats a pile of garbage

@Miss_Wonderful1

26 күн бұрын

@@ethics3 Not only the OP is not squandering your mamma's money, but yelling like a mad preacher tells a lot about you 😅 What they say is correct and they prove they have a spine for acknowledging their issue, and avoiding what's potentially alluring and dangerous to them. Stay away from topics for grownups until you know how to interact with others.

@SageArdor

26 күн бұрын

@@ethics3 I'm literally taking proactive responsibility for my actions by avoiding activities that I know could easily get me addicted. Never smoked in my life and only ever had one taste of alcohol (tasted terrible by the way) for that reason. You assumed the exact opposite of my point because you interpreted a real aspect of me as a buzzword. Also, it's "of course", not "of coarse".

@philrei2797

25 күн бұрын

@@ethics3are you projecting or something?…

@DavidCruickshank

24 күн бұрын

@@ethics3 You know you are on the internet right? So you could easily look it up and find out all about how true it is. But i guess you don't care about facts and reality, nothing but rage for you.

it's great to have you back Shogo. also besides Pachinko there are other forms of gambling such as gacha games. and in case of how my country handles it... it is completely forbidden but as of recent gambling sites in internet has become a problem

I have a rack mounted musical computer called pachinko that generates random melodies

So happy to see you back, I missed your videos! Thanks again, hope you and the family are well :)

I wanted to try pachinko while in Japan, but the smoke drove me out. I was also told the reason the government did not interfere is that the mafia has a lot of controlling interest in pachinko casinos

I always appreciate your teaching style. World culture always fascinates me, but many times a lot of the nuances of different cultures is lost in translation but you always make your subjects accessible and detailed and I learn much more than I have in other ways of study.

I don't really find gambling fun. I've done it before, and I can do it and limit myself to a specific amount. Once that was gone, I was done. I do enjoy Bingo, but again, I am able to set a hard limit for myself on what I spend and abide by it. I also prefer Bingo in more informal settings where it is a fundraiser for a local school or other organization. As it stands, I haven't even played that in years. They just don't hold that many Bingo fundraisers anymore, and Bingo at Casino's is full of people who take it all WAY more seriously than I ever would.

Will drop by in Kyoto at begin of August :) ... I was one time in a Pachinko parlor ... tooooooo loud :)

@kaltaron1284

25 күн бұрын

And don't forget the smell. I think the longest I've been in one or even just the entrance was like 10 seconds.

@AdamOwenBrowning

24 күн бұрын

@@kaltaron1284 The smell? I'm morbidly curious. What signature smell is their to a pachinko parlor? intense BO with a metallic undertone?

@DavidCruickshank

24 күн бұрын

@@AdamOwenBrowning Yep, they also stink of smoke and booze, A lot of sweaty salary men engaging in as many vices at once as possible

@kaltaron1284

24 күн бұрын

@@AdamOwenBrowning Tobacco. There's probably other "nice" smells as well but that one is enough for me.

Awesome video as always Shogo.

I believe that some people are natural born thrill seekers. They get a jolt of excitement from the ups and downs of gambling.

Glad to see ya back

Has the sword collection grown? Glad you’re back and another great video!

Welcome back!! :D

In Brazil any luck based game is considered is considered gambling and so is strictly outlawed, that is with the exception lotteries because they are a big source of tax revenue A research done by the University of São Paulo pointed that about 1% of Brazilian adults are addicted to gambling considering anyone who plays these game is regularly as addicted. However this number would be much higher if sports bets where considered gambling as well

Love your content very informative!

thank you for this insight, japan is one of those places that in my country, you never hear anything bad about in the media - i would never have guessed the gambling addiction rate is so high there. still, i do have a lot of respect for the japanese and i think us english folk could learn a lot about how to act in public from you

I heard norm Macdonald say gambling was a way to escape from reality. So very sad what it does to familys.

@johnrivers3813

24 күн бұрын

Yeah that's the definition of an addiction. The crazy bit is that you can practically get addicted to anything

glad to see you back! you look well

I like your new intro to your videos!

I cycled through a a rural town near where I live in Japan. The town was full of dilapidated houses and closed down businesses but at the middle of the town was a newly renovated pachinko packed with customers. Even where I live, I have 3 pachinkos within 10 mins of walking time. It seems like they are one on the most booming business around.

I like your hair in this video, Shogo-san. You look so relaxed with it styled that way!

You were talking about leaving Japan awhile back. I am glad that you stayed.

Unrelated but i haven't watched your videos in a while and i love your new hair.

Vegas local here. I personally have never been interested in gambling because years ago i found that I'm a horrible loser and its a waste of money. However, I'm surprised you didn't mention crane game machines which is sort of like gambling. You're basically feeding coins into a machine in hopes of winning the prize which either takes skill, chance, or is badly rigged by the house (sticky bars, weak claws until you're entered enough coins to equal the amount the prize costs). I will say that for a short time, i was addicted to a certain online crane game app from Japan. I still have the app but only play rarely. Ive been signing in everyday for over a year just to rack up points to play for free later if a prize looks interesting.

Gamblers should toss their money into the stock market instead. There's plenty of start up's out there with really cheap stock prices. The difference to gambling is that the companies who's stock you invest in have a real, financial incentive to work towards increasing the stock's value, as opposed to a gambling den who's incentive is to try and make you lose money. And you can follow the price movements of stocks in real time too, so it has a similar degree of excitement as gambling. To make a gambling comparison: betting on a stock is like betting in a horse race. Only the race doesn't truly end until the horse is dead.

Thank you for your videos.

Yooo, Shogo is back! Okaeri minasai! ✌

I live in Chicagoland and casinos have been blowing up lately. I don't know where the sudden popularity came from.

@Ryuker16

15 күн бұрын

Tax money and pension funding

Not just pachinko, JP playerbase in many mobile gacha games tend to be massively profitable aswell, way more then the other regions,and you can do it anywhere you want with your phone and privately aswell.

Glad to hear you guys are ok, I was worried after the earthquake over there.

Love the hair Shogo!

Loving the new music

I started following your channel years ago because your videos about social problems in Japan. Those are probably your best ones. You once did one about pets and I wish if possible another video about animals in Japan, but wild sea life. How the japanese see and deal with the still ongoing whale hunting and if that dolphin killing festival is still happening.

Could low salaries be a contributor to the gambling addiction?

@tendies9248

26 күн бұрын

That's an interesting theory

@PiroKUSS

26 күн бұрын

I wouldn't be surprised if their backwards working culture was also a major contributing factor

new intro is great.

thank you for your editing it helped prevent my plasma from getting burn in

Shogo, as you've lived in the States, I'm sure you get the basic idea of how gambling is in the U.S. But I'll sum up. 1. State lotteries. It basically is a tax on the poor. Washington and Oregon state lotteries regularly run advertisements highlighting what projects the money is used for. 2. Casinos. Outside of Las Vegas, Reno, and Atlantic City, most are on the tribal reservations, run by the tribes. For states that have legalized gambling, there are businesses here and there, restricted by local city laws. Most all casinos focus primarily focus on slot machines, but there are still card and bingo type games (Keno). 3. I'm very surprised no one mentioned fantasy sports- the newest form of sports betting. 4. It seems that some states have enacted laws to require that gambling is for entertainment, not investment, and to list at least one resource to seek help with addiction and similar problems with gambling.

Back in 1988 coming into Yokosuka for a port visit, we were instructed to not go into pachinko parlors, allong with the usual don't be drunk in public, no littering, no smoking, no touching, no admissions of even the possibility of having special weapons on board the ship.... This list of things not to do in Japan was the longest of any of the countries we visited! 🤣 As for gambling in the US, they pay lip service to treating gambling addiction, just like everywhere else, tax revenue comes before the well-being of the citizenry.

It pays to figure out whether one has an addictive personality or not. Those personality types who can easily get addicted to things should avoid all addictive things. Apparently people are divided in three roughly equally-sized groups on this issue. People in the first basically do not get addicted. They can even do drugs regularly and quit in an instant if they decide to. The second group can get addicted so they should avoid overdoing addictive substances. They might slide from controlled consumption into addiction if they don't watch out. The third group of people get easily addicted. For them just one go at an addictive activity can get them hooked, and it'll be very hard for them to quit. They are the kind of people who often move from one substance or activity to another. If they manage to quit smoking, they move to gambling. When they quit gambling, they start overeating, etc. Even chimpanzees have been observed to similarly fall into three groups based on how easily they get addicted.

(10:00) Ohh, this is why Pokémon Game Corners never had pachinko machines.

Great Video.

本当それ！ ありがとうございます♪

Working in a casino put me off gambling for life, I saw so many lives ruined! It’s an insidious business.

I was a security EMT for Red Hawk Casino briefly. I left cause it was very shady. We were told that, if we were currently carrying money, we were not allowed to give aid to "guests" with medical emergencies...even if they're having a heart attack. Instead, we had to call for another security EMT to come and help. The casino would rather prolong the time someone in cardiac arrest is without CPR, probably causing someone die, than risk the $12,000 or so of chips you're carrying. This is, btw, common practice

I don't even know how to gamble. But my experience with a really creepy situation... thaught me a lot about what it actually does and how the rest of the elite actually operate. Its criminal...

Wow. I didn’t realize how bad it was. And I don’t say that because of the statistics in the video, I say that because the things Shogo said sounds 100% like someone who has known and seen people suffering with addictions. I have known at least a dozen people growing up in high school or otherwise who already were (or became) addicted to something or another. The fact that Shogo is asking people just “don’t even try it“ is very indicative of the real effects he has seen.

"The bank always wins" always keep that in mind! Otherwise gambling halls/casinos would not exist. So no matter how much you win, as long as you keep going, you are more than likely to lose money.

I grew up in the US and as a kid we had a working 1960's-70's pachinko machine. When I visited Japan last year I wanted to play at a pachinko parlor for the experience. I changed my mind as soon as I stepped into the place. A quick look around was plenty for me.

Pachinko's system reminds me of the system here in Nebraska--we have these machines similar to video games where people play for "credits", and then a ticket is given that is traded for money. It slipped through the loophole of the gambling laws here and now they're springing up everywhere in bars and convenience stores.

I mean no disrespect but the way you carry yourself reminds me of Yukichi Fukuzawa as he is portrayed in the video game “Rise of the Ronin”. Love your videos, thank you 🙏🏽

10 years ago I remember walking into pachinko in more rural province Tottori, and it was full. And they were almost every few minutes walk. It blew my mind thinking about how many of those balls must be spinning around in the country at that very moment.

In my state in the US, gambling is completely illegal. But there are towns in nearby states right on the border so people often will go there.

When I first heard about the loophole used to make Pachinko "legal". I thought, why would the government allow that? Then I heard about the tax revenues from the business. And was like, ah! that's why.

I never did Pachinko when I was in Japan, but I did do a lot of the Arcade versions of Gacha games at the Sega Arcade and man those were such an addictive cash sink. The games themselves were better versions of the Mobile Gacha games, but rolling for the cards cost like 1000 yen on top of putting the money in to play and unlike the actual phone versions where you can usually bank resources for both play time and rolling to be Free to Play if you have discipline, they really have you over the barrel b/c it's either feed the machine more money or walk away.

Dude your hair looks amazing. Half Thai Jon in Redding CA. Gambling in Thailand is illegal because it deeply afflicts Thai people.

I went to anime convention in the USA where they had a large booth where you can play pachinko machines. It was fun for a short while.

I've noticed a lot of gambling based mechanics in some of my favorite Japanese games; some of those games were changed in later editions.

thankyou for the facts from you thankyou

Slot machines are called pokies in Australia. I live in NSW and pokies are found in pubs and clones everywhere. The pokies are scourge that destroys lives. I’ve had to avoid pubs to keep myself to going back to them 😢 Online sports betting is also a growing problem 😮

On my first visit to Japan several years ago I stopped by a Pachinko parlor out of sheer curiosity of it. I instantly got depressing vibes despite the shiny lights. Being a strong empthath I can pick up on vibes from facial expressions and body language. After just 20 minutes I was really bored so I cashed out for some Candy and left. I could definitely see why people could get addicted to it, I have always had no interest in gambling so it had no interest to me other then the exotic curiosity of it. That was my experience with Pachinko.

When I moved to Nagasaki Prefecture we did a walking tour and our facilitator told us that casinos were prohibited, she then gestured at a pachinko parlour and told that it's legally not gambling and it was best to stay away. I'd argue mobile gacha games can get just as bad

I visited a Pachinko parlor back in 2011. Cigarette smoke, noise and people staring at the machines made it very unappetizing. I even played it once and made about 200 yen on my 1000 yen. Didn't understand it and have never had the desire to go back as I pass them on a regular basis.

In Finland the gambling, slot machines and lottery is almost exclusively organised by Finnish government. So the whole gambling thing really casual here. Like you can play slot machines in every grocery store and do lottery. But because it's government organised thing they also provide you these free anonymous gambling addiction phone lines or web sites to help you get rid of that bad habit. Wich are funded partly by the money people have spend on their gambling, slots and lottery games.

I would love my own Pachinko machine. I find it so fascinating 👍

It’s crazy that I’ll be in a small Japanese town, and everything is run-down and closed, except this huge white building with a ton of lights. A pachinko parlor. I’ve always wanted to try it out, but ever time I’m near one with the doors open, it’s deafeningly loud and reeks of smoke.

Yup, gambling, a form of displaced aggression, is a common problem of Obsessive/Compulsive folks. A boss of mine from Hong Kong used to joke about it. He and family used to go to Las Vegas once every couple of months back in the 1980's, when they were trying to make it kid friendly.

during my visit in Tokyo and Kyoto I did see some pachinko but refrained, I wasn't sure how the exchange worked and would have rather tried different foods, plus I was more into trying for some gatchas for some figurines

I love these videos, thank you! I have a question about the shogun series (sorry!)... Mariko's suicide is called seppuku by you tubers commenting on the episode. But she doesn't go to slit her stomach, instead she makes to stab her heart. Is this a different type of suicide or is it how it's done for ladies so they don't have to disrobe or something???

In Germany, lotteries, scratch card and gambling halls were the most common for decades. Since 2011 online gambling has started to become legal in 1 state and is legal nationwide since 2021. Sports betting used to be illegal, but tolerated by the country because it has a ‘sports character’

Got a question, Shogo. Are pachinko parlors comparable to arcades like Round One for you? Like another commentor, I live in Nevada and see gambling everywhere. Recently, a Round One arcade was brought to a nearby city. The wife and I go there at least once a month, but every time we do, we see people who show signs of gambling addiction there as well.

I really think addictions, including to gambling, are a universal human problem. It interests me to see how universal human experiences, especially the negative ones, manifest in different cultures. I'm sure a lot of people are understanding why in Pokémon Red/Green/Blue/Yellow the player exchanges game corner coins for prizes in a separate building.

When I was in Kyoto in 2004 I walked around to find where the Ikedaya incident between the Shishi and the Shinsengumi happened on July 8, 1864. To my surprise the cite where the incident happened was at that time was a Pachinko parlor. Today I believe it is a museum.

I'm glad I played Diablo 2 as a kid because the rush of anticipating a win in gambling is the same as hoping for that next legendary to drop. I've over all that but at least I didn't spend money to get The Grandfather.

I have an addictive personality so I stay away from gambling. I went to a casino once, I didn't really understand how most of the games worked as they're now a lot more complex than your classic slot machines. when I got there I got a free $5 as a first time visitor and by the time we left I was up $5 (I never spent any of my own money). I found it quite dull and feel there are far better things to spend my money on.