Gambling

Yakuza are criminals who are organized into criminal organizations somewhat like the Mafia in the US and Italy. For many decades, the yakuza were a relatively minor type of criminal, but in recent decades, they have become more of a problem. Until the early 1960s yakuza concentrated on gambling, especially pachinko, and the entertainment industry… [Read more]

Very few types of gambling are legal in Japan except for betting on horse-racing, motorboat racing and so on. Pachinko is the one of the few games which is legal although pinball games abound especially at festivals. Card games such as poker are not legal if played for money. Mahjong is commonly played, often for… [Read more]

Pachinko is a game which can be found throughout Japan. It is a noisy, garish, glittery form of gambling which never seems to loose its popularity. Pachinko is like a pinball game. The object is to get a metal ball into one of the many holes on an upright playing board. The board is studded… [Read more]