Japanese Gaming Machines

Bright neon lights, dizzying sounds, crowd wildly cheering as a machine dispense tokens for a player... You might think you're in a Las Vegas casino but you're halfway around the globe in a pachinko parlor or amusement center in Japan!

Casinos may be (as of this writing) illegal in Japan. And legal gambling is only limited to horse, motorboat, bicycle and motorbike racing. But another cool way to experience the glitz of Las Vegas in Tokyo is through Pachinko, Pachislo and Pachisuro machines.

Pachinko Machines brings together the excitement of slot machines and thrill of pinball. It is believed that Pachinko Machines were first played in the Japanese city of Osaka.

Meanwhile, Las Vegas-style skill-stop machines are known in Japan as Pachislo Machines. Skill-stop machines differ from traditional slot machines because the player has to manually stop each of the spinning reels, by pressing the corresponding button under each reel line. This gives the skill player the control of the outcome.

Meanwhile, Pachisuro Machines are the next generation of the traditional Japanese Pachinko Machines. While Las Vegas-style slot machines are gaining popularity in Japan, Pachisuro Machines continue to attract loyal patrons because it is known to be beatable. Some machines are known to give payout odds of roughly 90% to an astonishing 160%.

Though Las Vegas-styled gaming machines like slots and video poker are not yet allowed in Japan, there are equally exciting machine games that Pachinko parlors and amusement centers in the land of the rising sun.