How pachinko pays out
Pachinko looks like an upright pinball machine. You rent small steel balls, fire them into the machine with a handle, and win more balls when they drop into the right pockets. National rules cap the rental price at 4 yen a ball.
You can’t cash those balls in at the parlor, though. Japan’s Act on Control and Improvement of Amusement Business, often shortened to Fueiho, bans pachinko parlors from paying out cash or securities. It also bars them from buying back the prizes they hand out and from letting players take the balls home. So players swap their balls for prizes instead, each worth up to 9,600 yen before tax.
The cash comes from a separate business. When an upper house member asked the government about pachinko in 2018, he described players selling their prizes for cash at an exchange booth very close to the parlor. In Japan this setup is known as the three-shop system, or santen hoshiki.
Why Japan says it isn’t gambling
Gambling is a crime in Japan. Under Article 185 of the Penal Code, betting can bring a fine of up to 500,000 yen, unless the stakes are only something for passing entertainment. Article 186 adds prison terms for habitual gamblers, and up to five years for anyone who runs a gambling den for profit.
The government’s position is that pachinko falls under the amusement law instead. In a 2018 answer to the upper house, the Cabinet said pachinko is tightly regulated because it can stir up the hope of winning by chance, and that a parlor operating within those rules isn’t committing the crime in Article 185. In 2015 it had already said a third party buying prizes from players doesn’t by itself break the amusement law, although it could if that buyer is effectively the same business as the parlor.
By our test, pachinko is gambling all the same. You pay, chance decides, and the prize turns into cash a few steps from the door.
How it compares with Japan’s casinos
Japan’s casino law took the opposite route. The 2018 Integrated Resort Act lets licensed casinos operate inside large resorts, and Article 39 says that Articles 185 and 186 of the Penal Code don’t apply to bets placed there. The first resort plan, on Yumeshima island in Osaka, was approved in April 2023. Pachinko has never needed that kind of exemption, because the government doesn’t count it as gambling in the first place.
What the numbers say
Pachinko is shrinking, although thousands of parlors are still open. The National Police Agency counted 6,464 parlors at the end of 2025, down from 8,458 four years earlier. In the Japan Productivity Center’s leisure survey, 7.4% of respondents played in 2025, and those who played spent an average of 93,000 yen over the year.
It’s also where most problem gamblers in Japan put their money. In a 2023 national survey by the Kurihama Medical and Addiction Center, 1.7% of people aged 18 to 74 showed signs of a likely gambling problem in the past year. Pachinko was the game they spent the most on, named by 43.4% of the men and 60.9% of the women in that group. Pachislot, the slot machine version found in the same parlors, came second.
Questions people also ask
Is pachinko legal in Japan?
Yes. Parlors are licensed under the Act on Control and Improvement of Amusement Business, and the government says a parlor that follows those rules isn't committing the gambling crime in Article 185 of the Penal Code.
What is the three-shop system?
It's how pachinko winnings become cash. The parlor hands out prizes, and a separate booth nearby buys those prizes from players. The parlor itself isn't allowed to buy them back.
How many pachinko parlors are there in Japan?
The National Police Agency counted 6,464 at the end of 2025, down from 8,458 at the end of 2021.
Is Japan getting casinos?
Yes. A 2018 law allows casinos inside licensed resorts, and the first resort plan, in Osaka, was approved in April 2023.
Sources
- Penal Code, Articles 185 and 186 (e-Gov, Japanese)
- Penal Code, English translation (Japanese Law Translation)
- Act on Control and Improvement of Amusement Business, English translation (Japanese Law Translation)
- Enforcement Regulations of the Amusement Business Act, Article 36 (e-Gov, Japanese)
- House of Councillors, question on the three-shop system (February 2018, Japanese)
- Cabinet answer on gambling and pachinko (February 2018, Japanese)
- Cabinet answer on pachinko prize buyers (June 2015, Japanese)
- National Police Agency, amusement business statistics for 2025 (April 2026, Japanese PDF)
- Japan Productivity Center, Leisure White Paper 2026 preview data (July 2026, Japanese PDF)
- Integrated Resort Area Development Act, Article 39 (e-Gov, Japanese)
- Japan Tourism Agency, approval of the Osaka Yumeshima IR plan (April 2023, Japanese)
- Kurihama Medical and Addiction Center, 2023 national gambling survey summary (Japanese PDF)