Many people in the United States have pachinkos in their basements, garages, and attics. But they were put there years ago by parents, or former residents, or maybe they were picked up at garage sales or flea markets. How did all these crazy Japanese pinball machines end up in America? The history of pachinkos in America is quite amazing.
As the owner of a website dedicated to pachinko repair and restoration, I have learned quite a bit about where they are today and how they got there. Using tools like Google Analytics, I’ve been able to compile some statistics that let us know where they are today. Thousands of people have visited my site, all looking for information on these rather strange looking games. Where these inquiries come from, combined with the orders and sales data, gives a pretty clear picture that I’ll share with you below. But first, a bit of history on how all these pachinko machines got here in the first place.
Japanese pachinko parlors for decades only allowed the machines to stay in service for about a year before they had to be removed and scrapped. This led to a large number of used machines available in Japan, and most were simply destroyed. However, it was not unusual for the US military to ship or bring them to the states as souvenirs. The numbers that leaked out spread from our main military installations, but in the 1950s and 1960s these numbers were small, somewhere in the thousands. Few of these pachinkos have survived today.
In the early 1970s, some enterprising gentlemen had a good idea for a use for all those piles of expired pachinkos. They formed a company called Target Abroad LTD and began buying them by the thousands and filling shipping boxes with them. They then shipped these boxes by the thousands to the United States and sold them through major chain stores like Woolworth’s, K-Mart, and even Sears. Several other smaller companies quickly formed and opened specialty pachinko shops across the country. Two of the most successful were Pachinko Palace and The Pachinko Factory, and many vintage pachinkos in America today still bear their decals. Literally millions were sold between 1972 and 1976, but sales began to plummet when video games were invented and then mass-produced. By 1978, nearly all pachinko imports into the United States had ended, and retailers sold their inventory and closed their doors for good.
The largest concentration of these vintage pachinko machines in the United States is California with 16% of the total. While California is certainly a highly populated state, the ports of San Francisco and Los Angeles were the main delivery points for pachinkos shipped from Japan. It only makes sense that many are sold there.
The second largest concentration is in Illinois at 8%. For decades, Chicago was where most pinball and arcade machines were manufactured, and the port and transportation infrastructure was an obvious distribution point for Midwestern populations. Even today, vintage pachinkos seem to be in abundance in the suburbs there.
The third highest population is Texas with just over 6%. Texas has population in its favor, and also several good ports. Several of the distributors had major outlets in Texas, and the dry climate seems to have preserved the pachinkos in a superior way.
Next at number four is New York with 6%. As usual, a state with important ports with access to the main population centers. Pinball machines were banned for decades in New York, so it seems that only natural people would turn to pachinkos as an entertainment alternative on boardwalks and arcades. They eventually found their way into private hands when video games replaced them.
The absolute worst states in the continental United States for pachinkos should come as no surprise. North Dakota and South Dakota come in last. No ports, little population, and little general interest in some goofy-looking pinball games from Japan.
So now you know where the ancient pachinkos are and how they got there. If you’re willing to find one, try San Francisco or Chicago, and you might get the best deals and the best selection. But if you’re in North Dakota, you’re better off ordering pachinkos online, because it can be quite a while before you find one at your local flea market.