Every so often I happen upon an abandoned Pachinko ball and wonder where it might have come from. The world of Pachinko seems rather bizarre to me. It is essentially just another form of gambling, but instead of the clearly adult-oriented affects of American gambling establishments, Pachinko parlors are full of machines with brightly-colored anime characters. As these characters shout encouragement, grown men spend more and more money playing a losing game of chance with a thin veil of control. While the imagery of American gambling is often associated with vice, it's hard to imagine that so many Japanese men have been financially devastated to the cheerful, innocent imagery of anime characters.
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