
The building above houses a Japanese pachinko parlor.
Walking around Tokyo you'll quickly become familiar with pachinko parlors. These are mini casinos that house gambling devices a bit like slot machines.

Pachinko parlors manage to avoid infringing on the anti gambling laws but not paying out any cash prizes on the premises of the pachinko parlor. Lucky patrons are paid in tokens which must be brought to a separate establishment where they can be exchanged for cash. This "separate" establishment could be located directly adjacent to the parlor. However, parlor staff are prohibited from telling customers where they can go to exchange their tokens.
There seem to be several areas of Japanese society where they seem to be very concerned with whether or not the letter of the law is being carried out, without any regard for whether the actual consequences of the implementation are meeting the goal which was the reason for it's existence. Prostitution would fall into this category as well.
Apparently over 90% of the pachinko parlors in Japan are owned by ethnic Koreans. It's also rumored that many of the token exchange locations have connections to the Yakuza, or Japanese mob.
Also, I believe I promised a prize to the correct guess. So congratulations Brian Pierce! You're now the owner (proud I'm sure) of the hip shaped pillow pictured below.

YESSSSSS!!!!!
ReplyDeleteMy mom has really been wanting a new throw pillow for her couch!
LOL. Thanks for the Pachinko lesson too, very interesting!