Pachinko Parlors All Around

"Pachinko (パチンコ) is a device used for gambling...Pachinko machines are a cross between a pinball machine and a video slot machine. ..The machines are widespread in Japan in establishments called "pachinko parlors"...

The player purchases a large number of small steel balls which are inserted, in bulk, into the machine. ...modern machines use a round "throttle" that merely controls how quickly an electrically fired plunger shoots the balls onto the playfield. The balls then drop through an array of pins, and usually simply fall through to the bottom, but occasionally fall into certain gates which make the machine pay out more balls...

...The winnings are in the form of more balls, which the player may either use to keep playing, or exchange for tokens or prizes such as pens or cigarette lighters. Under Japanese law, cash cannot be paid out, but there is virtually always a small exchange centre located nearby (or sometimes in a separate room from the game parlor itself) where players can conveniently exchange tokens or prizes for cash. Such pseudo-cash gambling is theoretically illegal, but from the sheer number of pachinko parlors in Japan, it is clear that the activity is at least tacitly tolerated by the authorities." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pachinko