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?
