Extract

This book is a study of the economic history of the pachinko industry, which has developed uniquely in Japanese society. In the past, pachinko has been discussed from various perspectives, including in literature such as Min Jin Lee’s 2017 novel Pachinko, which portrays it as an ethnic business of zainichi (Japan-residing) Koreans. There are also studies that emphasise the connection between pachinko, the underground economy, and criminal syndicates, and studies of its nature as leisure activity peculiar to ordinary Japanese citizens. However, these studies are only fragmentary, and no historical study has comprehensively discussed this topic. Consequently, this book is an effort to study the entire history of the pachinko industry from the end of the 1940s to the 1980s, using extensive data and conscientious interviews with the industry’s key players. The richness of the contents is affirmed by its attainment of the venerable Suntory Prize for Social Science and Humanities in 2018.

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