This pachinko page needs a garish colour to reflect the garish parlours scattered aroound Japan. By day the queues begin early (below right in Asakusa on an early Sunday morning!), and whilst some pachinko parlours are more hidden away, others are bright, bold, loud and ugly. The King parlour in Kyoto looks rather drab on the outside, as does Pandora, but most of the newly-built parlours are bigger and glossier than the older ones. Pachinko is where you purchase balls and slot them in the machine, then you have to guide the balls into certain holes, some of which give out more balls than others. The more balls you get, the greater prize you can claim when you finish. Balls cannot be exchanged for cash, but (cough) I'll bet you places actually do just that.
ABOVE: This blonde bikini-clad (what else?) character seemed to be everywhere on the streets of Tokyo. She appeared ABOVE RIGHT as well, on a poster showing the 5 different types of pachinko machines you can choose to play. At this Parlour in Ueno, each floor had a different game, meaning five floors of madness! BELOW: The Lurid colours of a modern Pachinko parlour. And it's balls aplenty BELOW RIGHT. As the sign says "GREAT!"
ABOVE: Glossy exteriors of two pachinko parlours in Tokyo. Diamond is in the seedy backstreets of Ueno, and Jumbo is in Shinjuku.
j-worldwidegimp... japanese style site suit relaxed need accordingly.
