When looking at the vast cultural contributions gifted to the world by Japan, a few immediate associations might spring to mind. One might think of the bright lights and cutting-edge fashion served up by the buzzing Tokyo districts of Shinjuku, Harajuku, and Akihabara. Others might think of the sumptuous animations of Studio Ghibli.

For many of us, our experience with Japanese film immediately brings to mind the neon glow of the pachinko parlor. Ubiquitous in Japan for close to a century, Pachinko is a game you will find in any urban area of Japan, a form of low-stakes gambling that attracts people of all backgrounds.

This is perhaps why Pachinko parlors have been used as a setting and plot device in some of the best films set in Japan to have ever been released. With that in mind, let’s take a closer look at some of our favorite uses of Pachinko in cinema to date.

Pachinko Today

In Japan and outside of it, Pachinko is undergoing a major revival. Some estimate the domestic pachinko market to be worth as much as $300 billion, due to the immense popularity of this game, which combines traditional slot gaming with a ‘Wheel of Fortune’ style format.

Today, people all over the world play Pachinko, thanks to the advent of international online casinos that have made the game more accessible than ever. One of the biggest operators in this space is the Mr Green live casino. One of the most popular offerings at this platform is the live casino game Crazy Time, which offers a Japanese-themed Pachinko bonus round with top prizes worth up to 10,000x the initial stake. The fact that this game is available around the world really demonstrates its broad appeal.

Meanwhile, Apple TV is due to release a new TV show to the Western masses in 2022 titled Pachinko, which looks at the history of a Korean family in Japan and uses the Pachinko parlor as a recurring motif. Bringing the game further into modern pop culture will likely have an effect on its overall popularity.

Pachinko in Film 

For audiences outside of Japan, there are a number of iconic films set in the country that introduced the game to viewers for the first time. One of the most obvious examples is the Sofia Coppola classic Lost in Translation, which features an iconic encounter between Scarlett Johansson and Bill Murray inside a Tokyo Pachinko Parlor. Then there is the Ridley Scott 1989 action shooter Black Rain, a cult classic that marked the Hollywood debut of Japanese film star Yusaku Matsuda and features a couple of prominent action scenes inside a Pachinko parlor.

Arguably the most widely-seen depictions of Pachinko in the west were delivered through the vehicle of Jackie Chan action films. A huge number of Chan’s biggest hits feature fight scenes in pachinko parlors. There’s the 1987 film Final Victory, the 1995 film Thunderbolt, and the 2009 film Shinjuku Incident, to name just a few. All of these films feature some high-octane fight sequences, using the crowded interiors and neon-lit backdrops of the Pachinko parlor to liven things up a bit.

There are countless great examples of the classic game of Pachinko being used to enrich a film and its setting. What are your favorites?

Horror, unlike just about every other genre, has a unique relationship with the sillier things in life. Given how macabre the subject matter often is, that might be considered a bit ironic. The American movie industry is notorious for embracing this almost contradictory approach to movie-making, with franchises like Sharknado somehow getting away with six installments before calling it quits.

Night Fishing

In Asian Cinema, there isn’t as much emphasis on leveraging the meme power of stupid plots. Sharknado got by purely on its viral potential, which, inevitably, had worn off by the sixth film. In fact, based on the numbers, audience numbers were in freefall after the second movie. There’s still apparently much to be said for fish and fishing as a plot device, as 2011’s Paranmanjang (Night Fishing) demonstrates. 

Telling the tale of a fisherman who catches a dead body instead of that evening’s dinner, this South Korean creation is about as low budget as it’s possible to get. The entire spectacle was filmed on an iPhone 4. That might have made it look pretty good back at the turn of the decade but, today, it gives it an eerie, otherworldly feel. Put another way, the degradation takes nothing away from the imagery. 

Night Fishing earned praise and a Golden Bear award at the 61st Berlin International Film Festival, appearing in the Best Short Film category. At just 33 minutes long, it’s more of a taster than a true feature. Oddly enough, it has its origins in quite a commercial venture. Night Fishing was created to promote the device it was recorded on by telecoms company KT. 

Unconventional

Night Fishing’s choice of setting might seem a little unconventional, but movies simply don’t take advantage of this pastime as much as other parts of media do. Fishing is ubiquitous in video gaming, for example. Minecraft, Stardew Valley, Animal Crossing, and Final Fantasy XIV and XV all include fishing as a relaxing counterpart to the hustle of the main game. 

This idea is replicated in online casino gaming, where the Buzz Bingo slot Fishin’ Frenzy offers something different from the many games about cowboys and leprechauns. Accompanying it are fellow piscine playthings, Lucky’s Fish & Chips and Fishin’ Reels. Having said all that, though, South Korea’s 2006 movie The Host does frighten fans with a rampaging sea monster. 

Night Fishing is currently available to watch in its entirety on YouTube, where commenters have praised its poignancy and depiction of traditional shamanism. Unfortunately, other reviewers weren’t as keen on this Chan-kyong Park production. Overall, visitors to IMDb gave it a score of 6.5 out of ten. Night Fishing was Park’s second short after his 2000 debut Sets.

As a final point, ten years ago, Night Fishing represented something of a brief shift in movie-making trends. The idea of making films with mobile phones was an exciting one, though it never quite caught on. Still, the movie Age of Milk (Kim Dae-woo) stands as evidence of this brief craze, too.