Pachinko Popularity Declining In Japan?
By Brian Cullingworth, Last updated Apr 13, 2018
177 pachinko halls closed last year
The Tokyo-based Yano Research Institute reports an apparent decline in the popularity of traditional pachinko gaming in Japan as the population is exposed by modern technology to alternative forms of gaming entertainment.
Research by the Institute showed that only 10,258 pachinko halls remain in operation after 177 pachinko operators closed shop in 2017, continuing a downward trend.
Analysts found that in 1995 around 30 million pachinko players generated the equivalent of US$ 280 billion (Yen 30 trillion) in revenue for pachinko operators, but by 2016 participation numbers had shrunk to just 10 million players who frequented 10,000 parlours and generated revenues of Yen 22 trillion.
Changing player demographics have played a role in the decline; younger generations find their entertainment elsewhere via mobile devices despite efforts to draw them to pachinko by including anime features into games, and the millennial generations see pachinko more as a traditional game played by older generations.
Infopowa news was a staple of Casinomeister’s news from 2000 until 2019. Brian Cullingworth was the main writer, contributor, and was one of the most knowledgeable persons I have ever known involved in the online casino industry.
We first met in January 2001 at the ICE in London where I observed him going booth to booth interviewing online casino, software, and licensing jurisdiction representatives. Brian was also heavily involved with our forum as “Jetset“, he was involved as an informal consultant to eCOGRA, the OPA, and was a player advocate who assisted countless aggrieved players with his connections to industry folks. He also published “Casino Cautions” via Infopowa news for quite a number of years. These can be found in our news archives.
His passing in February 2019 was a dark day for us. He will be forever missed.
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