Paddles come in all different sizes and are decorated with elaborate portraits of kabuki actors, Edo era ladies, and even contemporary celebrities and politicians Hello Kitty being one fan favorite. In fact, Tokyo hosts a hagoita market every year. The Hagoita-ichi is located at Sensoji Temple in Asakusa in mid-December. The game has declined in popularity recently but people today love to buy beautifully ornamented hagoita as collector’s items. And the longer all the players can keep the hane in the air, the more luck they will have in the coming year. The loser ungraciously gets their face smudged with black ink so you have extra incentive to stay focused. The object of the game is to keep the hane off the ground as long as possible. Unlike badminton, you don’t play with a net, but you do hit a shuttlecock (called a hane) back and forth using wooden paddles called hagoita. Hanetsuki – or Japanese badminton – is traditionally played on New Year’s and became a popular women’s game starting in the Muromachi period (1333-1568). And maybe, the next time you’re perusing through the souvenir shop, you’ll also have a better understanding of the meaning behind some of the toys on display. Even if you’re not into playing too much, there’s still a lot you can learn about Japanese history and culture through them. So let’s learn about some of Japan’s most timeless and classic games. And though when it comes to games, visitors might first know this country for creations like the Mario Brothers and FF7’s Cloud Strife, let’s not overlook the lasting popularity as well as nostalgic value of Japan’s traditional games. Pachinko parlors are notorious tax evaders.Īccording to the national tax agency, out of 835 pachinko parlors investigated, 414 understated their income for the last financial year by an average of $233,000 each.Japan has a rich history of traditional games which date back over generations. “But now we think of pachinko as sound entertainment and it should be developed as such.” “In the past, we didn’t care even if a pachinko parlor went bust,” said a police official who supervises the industry. Pachinko first appeared in Japan before World War II, but in the last decade or so the game has become an important source of tax revenue for the government. “The essence of pachinko has changed from fun to gambling,” he said. The former editor of a sports newspaper, Takasi Kondou, said pachinko used to be viewed by players as a game which was fun to play. One I know is making a million yen ($7,500) a month.” Some of the old pros have disappeared,” Kueta said. “With new high-tech machines, luck rather than skill has become a larger factor. The new electronic machines have raised the take of the parlors-and increased players’ losses. The number of machines in Japan has almost doubled since 1981 to well over 3 million, and the gross income of the 14,000 garish, neon-clad pachinko parlors last year came to around $75 billion-more than four times the 1981 figure. “I think more than 80% of the players are losing money,” he said. “Most people come here because they want to get their money back,” said Katutoshi Kueta, a pro who also runs a pachinko school in Tokyo. The open secret is that players can choose cash as well, even though the law bans pachinko gambling for money.Ī select band of professionals even manages to make a living off the game. The machine disgorges a load of ball bearings into a successful player’s tray which can be exchanged for prizes. The aim is to direct the stream of balls through a maze of nails into selected slots.
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