Niche Collections: Mr. Sugiyama's Pachinko Museum

Each of these Niche Collection entries has made me very happy to write, but this one I am by far the most excited about.  Across continents, across language barriers, and through a pandemic, the stars aligned and I am happy to present one of the most important collections of Japanese machines that exists.

I first discovered the work of 杉山 一夫 (Kazuo Sugiyama) when I bought his book パチンコ誕生―シネマの世紀の大衆娯楽 and dove into it with my poor little translator app (I don't speak any Japanese).  It remains one of the best books on the birth of pachinko available, even for English collectors like me.  I then discovered he had two e-books as well so I had to snag those.

Sugiyama was working to correct the mistakes of the past.  So many "pachinko histories" had huge missing gaps, and often incorrectly traced pachinko back to early 1900s bagatelle games.  Articles sometimes quip that "pachinko is Japanese pinball" and that's a lazy description that should forever be laid to rest.  Sugiyama has documented pachinko to the start of the 20th century, AS WELL documented bagatelle / corinthian/ corinth and it's developments in Japan.

First up, here are his books:

Since he had written on Corith, I had messaged him with questions about Smart Ball.  In our conversations he revealed that he would be opening a museum!    Very exciting stuff!!!

But then the pandemic was declared!  Museum opening: POSTPONED!!!

With the pandemic now being much more controlled in Japan, and with the safety precautions much more well known, I encouraged my friend nazox2016 to go visit and he took all of the photos you'll see below.  THANK YOU SIR!  You can read his write-up at his site, part 1, part 2.  Most of the translations below are also his.
I have included all of the signs filled with history in a separate post, and hopefully people can help translate them in the future.

So without further ado, let's get into it...

Niche Collection 007: Mr. Sugiyama's Pachinko Museum

postcards from the museum featuring two of the rarest machines

and this is just a sampling! - Garage exhibition room

Exhibition Room #1: The Garage

Masamura Gauge All 15 (1963)

We start with this iconic machine from 1963 that has a few key features.  This is before mechanical tulips, which came around 1964.  It has the tray slide for loading balls, but most notably it has the crank in the lower left for loading balls into the prize hopper at the top.

garage, right side towards the entrance.  What beautiful machines!

We immediately get into some important machines that are explicitly NOT pachinko...

Olympia Star (1964, Sega) - the VERY FIRST Pachislo machine

And one of my personal favourites, the Smart Ball machine!
I really wish I could find more information about this style of machine, which automatically feeds out balls in the same manner as a mechanical pachinko machine.

Smart Ball (スマートボール) - I really wish I knew exactly when they started making these.

Smart Balls like this can still be found at a small number of places in Japan.  Were they from the 60s?  early 70s?

pre-masamura gauge machines are seldom seen.  This is an "All 3", where each win pocket paid 3 balls.
unknown year, but most likely 1951 or before.

Kanjinchō All 10 (~1950) - Kanjinchō is a famous Kabuki performance

This next machines is in rough shape, but it's from 1945.  Of note it is played by inserting a coin, a throw-back to the British Allwin machines where you'd enter a coin to have a ball released.

Oatari Pachinko (Jackpot pachinko) (~1945)

The pillar sign translates to (via Nazox2016):

Golden Kite Pachinko was made with the image of the Order of the Golden Kite. The abolition of the Order of the Golden Kite was abolished in 1947. The production of the Golden Kite of cigarettes was discontinued in 1949. There was a time when the golden kite of tobacco became a prize for pachinko

Take a look at the stunning hand-painted art on this one, with the row of jackpot balls stacked beautifully as part of the artwork.

Kujaku All 15 (~1950)

Another unique layout with some great artistic flourishes.  I'm assuming there is a hole that pays 20, while most pay 10?

ALL 10 & BONUS 20 ( ~1950, Aichi Pachinko)

Two more with that classic 1950s flair and the ball loader.  The machines have a rubber stopper in the upper right, which was fairly new at the time.  Older machines would loop the ball around, similar to an Allwin machine, but adding a stopper on the upper right greatly speeds up gameplay time.

Masamura Gauge All 15 w/ball loader (~1953, Maruboshi, Shokai)

Masamura Gauge All 15 w/ball loader (~1953, Maruboshi, Shokai)

Now we get into what I think most people think of when they think of "old pachinko":  machines from the 1950s where the balls are inserted one at a time through a front hole, the classic Masamura Gauge nail design is in place, no stopper (so the ball can travel in a circle, and a little payout ball drawer at the bottom.

JIMMIT ALL 15 (1957, Nishijin)

Masamura Gauge ALL 15 (1957, Hokuku Yuki)

A glimpse of the left side of the room:

on the left you'll see a cool half-gauge machine!

As we enter the 1960s we can see the innovation in colours and center-piece designs

COMIC CENTRE ( ~1960, Shinjin)

This one is slightly hidden from view but features a very unique feature, a ball loader referred to as "The Snail" based on it's shape.

Masamura All 15 type (1952, Hokoku Yuki)

well that's just pretty.  The spiral entrance is called a "snail" or "Dendemushi"

On to the left side of the room!

I think that's one at the bottom with the electric shooter is as "modern" as we get here.

a poster for a comedy movie about pachinko, 1962

In North America we talk a lot about "Coin-op" as shorthand for the whole industry, but most Japanese machines don't take coins at all, so this one is an interesting historical note.  This is the "automatic operating" machine, where you could enter a 10 Yen coin and have balls dispensed for you.

Reconjista (1960)

Exhibition Room #2: The Warehouse

Come one come all to the history of Corinthian and Bagatelle!
First thing to note is that pachinko derived more from British vertical machines, like the earlier Allwin machines.
Corinthian arrived in Japan as a descendant of bagatelle and is not considered a precursor to pachinko.  Corinthian would evolve into Smart Ball, whose development would parallel pachinko's for a few decades, but that's it.

If you've ever looked at any "history of pinball" book you're probably familiar with the 1864 political cartoon of President Lincoln playing bagatelle.  It's even in the Library Of Congress!
This one:

That kind of bagatelle table is what Mr. Sugiyama is standing in front of here:

many of the early bagatelles / corinthian / poolette / fortuna tables

a toy version of what many are familiar with as Gottlieb's Play-Boy (1932)

a classic Redgraves-style bagatelle circa late 19th century

Exhibition Room #3: In front of the Atelier

20 No Tobira (unknown year, Suzutomi Shoten)

"20 No Tobira" (aka The 20 Doors) was a popular radio program on NHK Radio at the time.
The jackpot hopper had to be replenished by hand by the attendant.

Pachinko Daimyojin (~1952)

Daimyojin means "the great god"

Pachinko Daimyojin (~1952) - rear view

The mechanism you see above was an innovation made by inventor Kazuo Nagasaki:

a portrait of Kazuo Nagasaki

Exhibition Room #4: Atelier

A big part of pachinko history is the classic "masamura gauge" nail positions, but before that became standard there were a few others.
This machine is an example of Bara-Kugi gauge:

Yanagi Ni Tsubame (~1949)

Yanagi Ni Tsubame (~1949) - rear view

This next machine is based off the 1948 British film The Red Shoes, which was popular in Japan.

It is considered to be the oldest existing machine with the automatic prize dispensing mechanism installed.

Tango (1950, Suzutomi Shokai

Mr. Sugiyama with his collection in the Atelier

Olympia (~ 1940)

unknown date or manufacturer, but I'd guess 1950 or before

Another extremely rare machine, this is based on a character from a kids comic from 1910.  this machine might precede World War 2.
It is a confectionery vendor.  Insert a coin for a ball, and a win (presumably) results in a treat dispensed at the bottom.

Koguma No Korosuke (unknown year, Seiko?) - full view

Koguma No Korosuke (unknown year, Seiko?) - playfield detail

Another delightful confectionery vendor:

Exhibition Room #5: Entrance of 2nd floor

Jimmit (Heiwa)

The Jimmit is a very generic-style machine, but just like the slot machines and pinball machines of the era, success bred rampant imitation.

MODAN TAIPU (~ 1953) aka "modern type"

I love this one because it looks like a space-age washing machine.  :)


Exhibition Room # 6: 2nd floor

Alongside lots of posted information, this section's single machine is very adorable.  It is also the direct precursor to the masamura gauge layout.

Jigoku No Emma Daio (~1951)

Jigoku No Enma Daio translates to "Enma the great rule of hell"


Exhibition Room # 7: Loft

We made it to the top!!  Get ready to be blown away, because here is the oldest known pachinko machine.  Insert a coin to release a ball.  Get the ball into 1 of 3 pockets to receive a payout from the operator of 1-3 coins.

Okashiki Denki Jidou Kyuyuki (~1929-1932, Oka Manufacturing)

Okashiki Denki Jidou Kyuyuki (~1929-1932, Oka Manufacturing) - top-down view

Okashiki Denki Jidou Kyuyuki (~1929-1932, Oka Manufacturing) - rear

This is a base-ball themed game.   In Japan, college baseball started in Japan in 1903 and professional baseball started in 1920.

game description

The hits keep coming!

The earliest known confectionery vending machine, and once again based on baseball.  You can really see how machines like this share roots with the British Allwin design.

Yakyu Jido Hanbaiki (~1925, Toyo Jido Gorankuki) 

"Toyo Jido Gorankuki" means "The Oriental Automatic Amusement Machine", and was later renamed TOGO.

TOGO eventually became a major roller coaster manufacturer in Japan, making "The Big Apple" roller coaster in Las Vegas.

The character on the batter's uniform looks like "NK", but it is actually "WK" by Waseda and Keio, which means "Waseda versus Keio".

One of the earliest traditional-style pinball machines made in Japan, this game seems to be a copy of Genco's 1934 Official Baseball.

You can compare it to this:

for comparison, Genco's 1934 Official Baseball (via IPDB)

Japan's unique evolution from bagatelle is called Smart Ball and the loft is filled with some incredible early examples.

the oldest known Smart Ball, 1935-1936

Mr. Sugiyama playing Smart Ball at a festival in 2008 at a shrine in Yokosuka 

and let's finish off with a few more incredibly rare machines:

~1937 Saida Shokai

Takegiku Susuki (~1933-1938, Niigata Nishimura Shokai)

and finally, the oldest existing "ALL 15" machine:

ALL 15 (~1951, Masamura Shokai)

Thank you so much to Mr. Sugiyama for building this incredible museum.  So much of the pachinko history was at risk to be lost and obfuscated, and I greatly appreciate all of the work he has done.
Thank you to nazox2016 for taking all of these photos and translating so much of the information for me.

Mrs & Mr. Sugiyama

A few extra machines:

1907 Little Dream coin-drop machine from America
+ a German coin-drop machine that I've never seen before

A very popular 4-Jacks macihne from America.
These penny flick machines had numerous variants and copycats

Visiting the museum:

This post doesn't even feature all of the machines, there are many exhibits and surprises you'll only find in person.
website: http://www.pachinko-tanjo.com/
google maps link
The museum is open by APPOINTMENT ONLY.

the view from Street View

and the view as it is currently:

Have a machine to sell?
Standard boilerplate for everyone that arrives here via searches:  If you have any of these kinds of machines and want more info on yours and/or want to sell them, please email me at thetastates@gmail.com and I'll see if I can help you.  No matter where you are in the world, chances are there's probably a community of people I can get you in touch with.

Have a collection to showcase?
If you a niche collection that might be appropriate here, please email me at thetastates@gmail.com