The Pachinko Scam

[arbycoffee]

The Pachinko Scam
Who's Scamming, the Gangs or the Police?
By Jens Wilkinson

Pachinko is one of Japan's great pastimes, with annual sales of 30 trillion yen, making it larger even than the domestic auto industry. Recently, though, there have been disturbing reports in the mass media, about evil foreign gangs cheating the industry by using counterfeit cards, just like the telephone cards they used to sell in Ueno Park. Yes, the police and media will admit, the Japanese yakuza may be involved as well, but the bulk of the reporting has been on the foreigners.

There is, however, another side to the story that has not been reported. To understand this other side one must delve into the underworld where gangsters mingle with police officials, and where legitimate businesses are on a constant lookout for new business opportunities. Yes, there may be a scam to make fake cards, but the reality is that the idea of introducing the cards was itself a scam, and a very profitable one at that.

The rest of the article
http://www.zmag.org/japanwatch/18-Pachi.html

[logicprobe]

Very interesting article... well worth the time to read it!

Thanks for these, Arby!

[arbycoffee]

I have found the more we know about the whole industry, the better we can plot our future.

[arbycoffee]

:roll:

[JamesM]

Great article :-) How gambley is your machine? :smt025