What is Japan's biggest industry? Car manufacturing? Technology? Nope, not even close. It's pachinko! Japanese people are estimated to spend somewhere in the neighborhood of 30 trillion yen (300 billion dollars) a year on pachinko. If I did my math right, then that works out to about $2000 a year for every man, woman and child in Japan. If you factor in the money spent on cigarettes, alcohol and cartoon porn you begin to realize the degree to which the Japanese economy is dependant upon vices. While this may seem strange, it probably doesn't come as too much of a surprise to anyone who's lived here a while.


Gambling is technically illegal in Japan, but it doesn't seem to matter very much. I don't really understand the role the Yakuza play in managing this lucrative underworld activity. Maybe it's their job to make sure nobody opens any new pachinko parlors without getting permission first. I get the impression that the 'Kooze are the real police of Japan, and as Akiko put in my last video blog, Japanese police are useless. How can you argue otherwise when the country's biggest industry is illegal. I guess the government is in no hurry to crack down on something that would cripple the economy if it were to suddenly go away. The thing I'm confused about is who exactly are all these gangsters working for. Could it in fact be for Korea?


I've been told on several occasions by Japanese people that Japan's pachinko parlors are mostly run by North Koreans. It seemed a little unlikely to me that the Japanese government would allow their biggest industry to be controlled by a communist country they are unfriendly with. I did a little research and found out that what I was told is really not too far from the truth. Apparently one third of all pachinko parlors are owned and operated by North Koreans or Japanese of North Korean descent (not that there's much difference in the eyes of most Japanese people between these two distinctions). Another one third are run by South Koreans. The rest are run by Chinese and Japanese owners. I wonder how many rabidly anti-Korean salarymen realize that the money they are blowing on pachinko is in fact being funneled into the hands of those they despise. You also have to wonder to what extent North Korea is dependant upon Japanese gamblers. Estimates of how much pachinko money winds up in North Korea range between $100 million to $600 million annually, but nobody really knows for sure.


What I'd like to know is why does the Japanese government allow so much of their people's money to be funneled into Korea? Do they feel bad about invading and occupying the place for the first half of the last century? Somehow I doubt that's the only reason.


Good reads:

Pinball Wizards Fuel North Korea
Japan for the Uninvited: Pachinko

Nicholas Cage Pachinko ads Could Cage he be a commie?
Japanorama: Pachinko

Japan-Zone: Pachinko
North Korea Travel Guide