So have you ever walked into one of those Pachinko parlors where the lights are so bright and the noise and tobacco smoke are so strong that you almost faint? Apparently thats what many Japanese are into. According to this website, http://www.japan-zone.com/modern/pachinko.shtml Pachinko employs 1/3 of a million people. The total revenue is over 30 trillion yen per year, which is more than the car industry! The other day I went into one of the nearby parlors and lost 1,000 yen in about three minutes. I don't think I necesarily understood what was happening, but the pachi-puro, or "serious gamblers" make a life out of it. The kicker is that in Japan, gambling is illegal, which is essentially where Pachinko came to thrive. Instead of winning money, the players win silver balls that they then can exchange for prizes, but the value cannot exceed 10,000 yen. As a way to work around the law, the patrons can then go to booths located outside of the Pachinko parlors and exchange their prizes for money. Pachinko can be seen in any city, and usually are adorned with horrific neon lights, inside and out.

To read about more information on Pachinko in Japan, refer to this website: http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20070925i1.html