pachinko museum supplemental material

There was lots of information on the walls at Sugiyama's Pachinko Museum but I don't know any Japanese, so I wanted to include all of the extra historical details here for all of the Japanese-reading fans.
Again, thanks to nazox2016 for all of these photos!

If you can translate any of these please email me (at thetastates@gmail.com) or respond below, and reference the picture #

1: contains 2 through 5 below

picture 2

Translation (by Brian Clark) from image #2:

(Note: Technically the name of this museum is Pachinko Tanjou Hakubutsukan (パチンコ誕生博物館), loosely translated to "Pachinko Birth of Museum". This doesn't sound particularly great to me, so I didn't translate it at this. However I'm sure there is another official "Panchinko Museum", so I wasn't too sure what to do with this).

Pachinko Museum

Pachinko started early in the Shouwa era, with issen pachinko. There was only a single ball, and it didn't go outside of the machine at all. Modern pachinko in which the balls come out of the machine came about in July of 1937 (the 12th year of the Shouwa era). Our museum has 100 different pachinko machines, spanning a period of approximately 50 years in which panchinko machines changes from old issen machines to electric dial handle machines, with 70 of them on permanent display.

(Note: An "issen" coin was a yen coin that was around quite some time ago, when Japanese currency was divided up a bit differently. It was essentially equivalent to a penny back then, but I'm not sure if the phrase "issen pachinko" is typically translated as anything particular in English)

Pachinko and Smart Ball were invented for use in merchant street stalls, and the inventor was Japanese!

Welcome to the Pachinko Museum!!

Exhibit 1: Room 1 - Garage

Here we have 30 actual machines and chronological tables on display spanning a 50 year period from World War II era pachinko machines to dial-type ones. 

This helps to gain understanding of this 50 year history, including the ban on rapid-firing machines.

It's said that "Warship March" began playing in pachinko parlors starting with one in Yurakucho in 1951 (Shouwa 26). Hachiro Kasuga's (春日八郎) "Otomisan" also went on sale in August of Shouwa 29, which was also a big hit in pachinko parlors. And on 11/16 of that same year came the ban on rapid-firing machines. But within Otomisan are memories of the joys and sorrows of the pachinko parlors of that era. The song that we here at the museum recommend the most highly though is "Kudan no Haha": A song released in Shouwa 14 that was themed around a Japanese soldier that died in battle and received the Order of the Golden Kite. Golden Bat brand tobacco lasted from Shouwa 15 to Shouwa 24. Kudan no Haha is an important point in discussing why Kinshi Pachinko was created.

(Note: You can read a pretty good summary of  the history of the Golden Kite and what it represents here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_the_Golden_Kite. The "Kinshi" that I mention in the phrase "Kinshi Pachinko" is indicative of the Golden Kite, which is why Golden Bat cigarettes were eventually renamed "Kinshi" and featured a kite on their packaging at some point. I was not able to find any actual references to the Golden Kite in terms of pachinko, so I'm honestly not too sure what they mean by this phrase since it doesn't seem to be a thing. And honestly looking at the lyrics to Kudan no Haha, I'm just not seeing it.)  

(Note from nazox2016:

The "Kudan" of the "Kudan no haha" is the name of location of the Yasukuni shrine [靖國神社].

Yasukuni Shrine was built to worship soldiers who died in the war as war gods. After the war, GHQ denied the values of the Empire of Japan, and Japan was reborn as a democracy. However, the Yasukuni shrine has remained.

The "Kudan no haha (A mother at Kudan)" is a song about the feelings of a mother who lost her son in the battle. The original song was made in 1939. At that time, this song had the purpose of indoctrination that even if your son or husband died in the war, it was an honor. Some persons were understood this lyric as a paradoxical anti-war song. I don't deny that possibility, but I think it was recognized as a purely uplifting song at the time. I'm not sure, but I think the name "Golden Kite Pachinko" means both the Order of the Golden Kite and the popular prize for pachinko games, "Golden Kite," which was once called the Golden Bat.)

Updated by me:  there is a sign in front this machine from 1945 that Nazox2016 had previously translated to:

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

 this has been updated into the main post now.

Notes on a possible meaning of "Kinshi Pachinko" via this page: (page is in Japanese, machine-translated English follows)

We've often heard about early pachinko and smart ball, and how there was an allure to play as it gave a chance of winning amenities like "soap or cigarettes".  This goes further into the role of post-WW2 tobacco and the industry around pachinko until the 1950s.  The page linked goes into detail about the development of the system where pachinko winners would trade their balls for goods which could then be exchanged for money, and the role of gangsters and police therein.

三店方式を考案したのは、元大阪府警OBの水島年得(脚注 1 )です。暴力団によるタバコの買い取りを止めさせてその資金源を断つという大義名分があったのでしょうが、ヤクザに買い取らせないでパチンコ店側が買い取るこの方法は法を欺く巧妙狡知の悪知恵にすぎません。三店がそれぞれ独立しているとはいえ、実質的にほとんど商品価値のない特殊景品がパチンコ店を軸として還流している現実は、三店間に約束事が成立していることの証であり、パチンコの換金が違法であることを明示しています。

The three-store system was devised by Toshito Mizushima, a former Osaka Prefectural Police OB. There may have been a cause to stop the purchase of cigarettes by the gangsters and cut off the source of funds, but this method of purchasing by the pachinko parlor without letting the yakuza buy it is nothing more than a clever wisdom that deceives the law. Even though each of the three stores is independent, the reality that special prizes with virtually no commercial value are circulating around the pachinko parlor is proof that a promise has been established between the three stores. Clearly states that pachinko cashing is illegal.

敗戦後の混乱期のパチンコにタバコが景品となり暴力団が跋扈した背景を理解するには、少し当時を振り返らなくてはなりません。

1940年頃、タバコの銘柄には「敷島」「国華」「響」「錦」など25種がありましたが、戦時中に少しずつ整理されて1944年（昭和19年）には、「金鵄(もとのゴールデンバット)」や「朝日」など６種だけとなっていました。働き手が兵隊に取られることによる（葉たばこの生産からシガレットの製造にいたるまでの）人手不足、そして物資不足によって生産量は激減したことがその伏線にあります。そして敗戦色が濃くなってきた1944(昭和19)年11月に、ついにタバコは配給制となります。

配給は隣組単位で支給されました。概ね５～10軒が一つの隣組を形成し、この隣組ごとに成人男子の喫煙者名簿を書き出して近隣のたばこ店に登録し、政府がその人数に一人あたりの配給本数を乗じた数をたばこ店に割り当てるという方法で行われました。女性の愛煙家は当初から対象外でした。配給制が導入された当初は一人一日６本だったものが、1945年の５月には５本になり、敗戦時には３本にまで縮小されています。

敗戦後もこの配給制は継続されて、1946年8月にはようやく女性も配給名薄に登録されるようになり、翌1947年（昭和22）の５月から女性への配給が開始されましたが、女性への配給本数は男性の四分の一でした。配給本数が男女平等になるのは、同年の11月のことです。

タバコは戦前はもちろん戦後もしばらくは公社による専売が続いていました。昭和20年におけるタバコの専売税収の実収はおよそ9億7000万円で、当時困窮した国家財政にとっては歳入総額のおよそ4.1%を占める重要な財源でした

昭和25年当時の、大卒初任給（公務員）は4,223円。かけそばは15円、ラーメンは20円で食べられた頃、ピース10本入は50円もする高価なものでしたが、日本人が初めて経験した虚無感が街中を覆っていた生活に、タバコは人々の極めて限られた嗜好品の一つで庶民のささやかな楽しみでした。しかし市場に正規ルートで販売されるタバコは限定されており、ヤミ市では私製の手巻たばこや”Winston” “LUCKY STRIKE” “Camel”といった進駐軍横流しの外国タバコが出回っていました。

1950年（昭和25）には、タバコの割当配給制度も廃止され、新しい銘柄が次々に登場し宣伝用のポスターも多く作られるようになります。昭和32年には子供もにも浸透した「今日も元気だ　たばこがうまい！」という名コピーも生まれました。（ちなみに、日本専売公社は昭和60年まで存続しました。）

これだけ人気がありしかも数が限られていたタバコが客寄せのためにパチンコの景品となったのは、ごく自然ななりゆきと言えそうですが、そこに目をつけたのが暴力団でした。
「貴重品であるタバコを売ってお金を得たい」というパチンコ客の要望に応えるように、パチンコ店の外には『仲介人』といって景品（タバコ）を買い取る者がどこからともなく生まれました。彼らは買い取ったタバコをパチンコ店に売り、その利ザヤで儲けます。このおいしい話を暴力団が見過ごすわけはなく、時を置かずして暴力団がこの取引を仕切るようになりました。

「暴力団に買い取らせないで、パチンコ店自体が買い取れば暴力団の資金源を叩けるし、客も安心する」と業界が思いたち、1960年（昭和35）に大阪のパチンコ店と大阪府警がタッグを組んで『大阪府遊技業協同組合』を設立し、その初代理事長についたのが水島年得でした。警察が積極的に関与して作った仕組みで生きながらえている違法賭博、それがパチンコです。

In order to understand the background of the turmoil of pachinko after the defeat, when cigarettes became a prize and the gangsters were dismissed, we must look back a little.

Around 1940, there were 25 types of cigarette brands such as "Shikishima," "Kokuka," "Hibiki," and "Nishiki," but they were gradually sorted out during the war, and in 1944 (Showa 19), "Golden Kite (Golden Kite) There were only 6 types such as "Original Golden Bat" and "Asahi". Foreshadowing is the labor shortage (from leaf tobacco production to cigarette production) due to the soldiers taking workers, and the drastic decrease in production due to the shortage of supplies. And in November 1944 (Showa 19), when the color of defeat became deeper, tobacco was finally distributed.

The distribution was paid in units of Tonarigumi. Approximately 5 to 10 houses form one Tonarigumi, and for each Tonarigumi, a list of adult male smokers is written out and registered in a nearby tobacco store, and the government multiplies that number by the number of cigarettes distributed per person. It was done by assigning it to a store. Female smokers were excluded from the beginning. When the distribution system was first introduced, the number was six per person per day, but in May 1945 it was reduced to five, and at the time of the defeat it was reduced to three.

This distribution system continued even after the defeat, and in August 1946, women were finally registered under the name of distribution, and distribution to women began in May 1947 (Showa 22). However, the number of rations to women was one-fourth that of men. The number of distributions will be equal for men and women in November of the same year.

Tobacco was monopolized by the public corporation for a while after the war as well as before the war. The actual revenue of tobacco monopoly tax revenue in 1945 was about 970 million yen, which was an important financial resource that accounted for about 4.1% of the total revenue for the poor national finance at that time.

At the time of 1950, the starting salary (public servant) for university graduates was 4,223 yen. When Kake soba was eaten for 15 yen and ramen for 20 yen, 10 pieces of pieces were expensive for 50 yen, but the feeling of emptiness that the Japanese experienced for the first time covered the city with cigarettes. Was one of the very limited luxury items of the people and was a little fun for the common people. However, the number of cigarettes sold on the regular route is limited to the market, and in the black market, privately-made hand-rolled cigarettes and foreign cigarettes such as "Winston", "LUCKY STRIKE", and "Camel" were sold by the expeditionary forces.

In 1950 (Showa 25), the tobacco quota distribution system was abolished, new brands appeared one after another, and many posters for promotion were made. In 1957, a copy named "I'm fine today and I'm good at smoking!" Was born, which has spread to children. (By the way, Japan Tobacco and Salt Public Corporation survived until 1985.)

It seems that it is natural that cigarettes, which were so popular and limited in number, became a pachinko prize to attract customers, but it was the gangsters who noticed it.

In order to meet the demands of pachinko parlors who want to sell their valuable cigarettes and earn money, outside the pachinko parlors, there are people who buy prizes (cigarettes) as "intermediaries" from nowhere. It was. They sell the cigarettes they buy to pachinko parlors and make money from the profits. This delicious story was not overlooked by the gangsters, and in no time the gangsters began to manage the deal.

The industry thought, "If the pachinko parlor itself buys it without letting the gangster buy it, the gangster's funding source can be beaten and the customers can feel at ease." It was Toshitoku Mizushima who formed the "Osaka Prefecture Amusement Industry Cooperative" and became the first deputy director. Pachinko is an illegal gambling that lives on with a mechanism created by the police actively involved.

 

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Exhibit 2: Entryway

Newspapers articles and police reports about the history of the popularity and banning of Pachinko and Corinth Game/Corinthian Bagatelle are displayed in the entryway. Of particular importance here are articles from the June 10th 1933 (Shouwa 8) edition of the Hokkoku Shimbun (北國新聞) (a newspaper based in the Korinbo district of Kanazawa) about the popularity of medal type pachinko machines, as well as one from the September 24th 1934 (Shouwa 9) edition about them being banned in Kanazawa.

Exhibit 3: Room 2 - Warehouse

Just what is pachinko's ancestor, Bagatelle (Corinth Game)? Bagatelle came from the English Corinthian Bagatelle, which in turn came from Finland's Fortuna. The Wall Machine (a Pachinko predecessor) was invented in England in 1899, along with Bagatelle. The pachinko tulip came from a 1913 English patent. This all came from Bagatelle.

Exhibit 4: Room 3 - In Front of the Studio

Gambling became very popular in the post war period, and customers became dissatisfied with the gift balls coming out of pachinko machines. So they were redesigned to produce a large quantity of the balls from inside of the machines. The machine you see on the right is a Suzutomi Shoten machine for the NHK radio program "Nijuu no Tobira" ("Twenty Doors") There are 18 balls within the case, and there's a mechanism that dispenses all of the balls at once when they enter the designated prize opening. However after they've been dispensed, the parlor employees had to put 18 more balls into the back of the machine by hand.

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Exhibit 5: Room 4 - Studio

Kazuo Nagasaki was the person who made it so that you didn't constantly have to replenish the balls in the back of the "Twenty Doors" machine. He came up with the idea of a mechanism that evenly dispenses 10, 15, or 20 balls regardless of the prize opening that is entered. He was referred to as "All Mono Kazuo Nagasaki". The application for the utility model patent of the All Mono was submitted on May 18th 1950 (Shouwa 25), but machines such as the "All 3" came about before Nagasaki's invention of the All Mono.

(Note: Here it seems that the "All Mono" (or "ooru mono") is perhaps the name of this mechanism that dispenses the same amount of prize balls no matter which opening you land in. I'm not sure if this has a de facto translated name or not)

The All Mono was actually put to use in Nagoya though, before Nagasaki publicly announced it in 1951 (Shouwa 26). Suzumi Shoten president Suzukichi Ueno founded Suzutomi Shoten in approximately 1929 (Shouwa 4), together with his younger brother Tomijuu and wife Fumi Narukawa. They were already circulating pachinko machines throughout the country even before the war.

(Note: I was not actually able to confirm that Suzukichi Ueno is the proper reading of this name. If you have a contact who could confirm this before posting, that would probably be ideal for accuracy purposes)

Here at the museum we have the oldest modern machine that uses the All Mono: A Suzumi Shoten machine made in 1950 (Shouwa 25) called "Tango", which is themed around a movie called "The Red Shoes" ("akai kutsu") which came out in Japan in March of that same year. The record of the Mitsue Nara (奈良光枝) song "akai kutsu no tango" ("Red Shoes Tango" / 赤い靴のタンゴ) also came out in June of that year. When Nagasaki came to Tokyo, he ran a small pachinko parlor in front of Asakusa's Jintan Tower. However it was driven out of business by larger parlors, which resulted in him selling off his patents. It's even said that his son worked at Suzumi Shoten. The All Mono was a revolutionary invention, but Nagasaki wasn't able to become as wealthy from it as someone like Takeichi Masamura was

Exhibit 6: Room 5 - Second Floor Entryway

Here we have both the oldest modern toy pachinko machine and a Kawari Da Ne machine on display, as well as many different post-war era toy pachinko and baseball pachinko machines. The photo on the right is the oldest modern toy pachinko machine. Both of the boxes here have "Pachi Pachi Asobi" written on them. The Tsubame, a super express train that began service in 1930 (Shouwa 5) is also drawn here. The first utility model patent for a toy pachinko machine was also submitted in June of 1931 (Shouwa 6). Real pachinko machines are older than the toy ones, and it's not as though the toy versions ended up overtaking them.

(Note: I couldn't really figure out if it was the machine itself that was called "Kawari Da Ne" (written 変わりダネ), or if it was somehow a type of machine. It seems more likely it was the name of the machine itself, but I was unable to locate enough information to confirm.) I'm also not sure of the phrase "Pachi Pachi Asobi" and how it relates to pachinko. But if you're wondering what I mean by "both boxes", there is a different photo of the oldest modern toy pachinko machine here that shows both of them: http://www.pachinko-tanjo.sakura.ne.jp/img_29.jpg)

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Exhibit 7: Room 6 - Second Floor

The Masamura Gauge is said to have been invented by Takeichi Masamura, but actually the Masamura Gauge was manufactured first by another company before Masamura Shokai.

In this room we have actual Masamura Shokai pachinko machines, as well as fakes. Masamura Shokai machines sold very well, so counterfeiting was rampant. Movies and newspaper photos from the time make clear the manner in which the Masamura Gauge was created.

It's commonly said that Masamura Shokai was the only company to sell the Masamura Gauge, but pictured on the upper right is a sequence of typical gauges that were found in counterfeits of Masamura Shokai's All 10, manufactured in approximately 1952 (Shouwa 27). You can see a drawing of the Golden Kite found in the center of the case.

The Order of the Golden Kite was officially abolished from the Japanese constitution in 1947 (Shouwa 22), and Kinshi Tobacco production was halted in 1949 (Shouwa 24). So at that point it was a bit late to be using the Golden Kite as a design on pachinko machine cabinets. However Masamura machines were sturdy, long lasting, and not prone to malfunctioning. They were manufactured in large quantities due to high demand.

Exhibit 8: Room 7 - Attic

Here we have several different machines on display: The oldest modern pachinko machines, the oldest modern Japanese made Wall Machines, the oldest modern Japanese made pinball machines, the oldest modern Small Ball machines, pre-war issen pachinko, medal pachinko, and a "Steel Ball Yakyuu Pachinko" ("Steel Ball Baseball Pachinko") machine that dispenses balls made by Shouichi Fuji.

One of the oldest modern pachinko machines, the above photos show the Okashiki Denki Jidou Kyuuyuki on the left next to a recreated version on the right. You're even able to try shooting out a ball with them.

Getting prize balls to dispense in a single shot is a nearly impossible feat. We know that originally, pachinko was not profitable for customers playing the machines. You can think of "pachin" as the sound that it used to make when being played in older times. The name "pachinko" was adopted during the first year of the Shouwa era (1926).

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The Popularity and Banning of Pachinko and Corinth Game

Pachinko originated in Osaka, during the early part of the Shouwa era. The "automatic ball launching machine" mentioned in the above newspaper article is actually issen pachinko. When you inserted an issen coin, balls would come out and fire. If you won, it would pay out two to one (one issen coin would become two). It was very plainly a gambling machine, and due to that the first pachinko ban in Japan was declared in Osaka Prefecture in March of 1932 (Shouwa 7).

(Blue text above the main body)

Osaka Mainichi Shimbun, 3/5 1932 (Shouwa 7)

(I can't really get the headline above. The Japanese is a bit too old sounding for me to be able to do too much with. From what I can make out though, it's just announcing Osaka's pachinko ban)

picture 7

(Again this is a bit difficult for me to get even the headline, because the Japanese here is a bit old. From what I can make out, the headline is about Pachinko exciting the public...sorry I couldn’t get more)

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In November 1933 (Shouwa 8), Fukuoka determined there were no issues with Corinth Game as a home game machine, but it was banned along with pachinko for use at amusement centers on the grounds that it directly fostered gambling.

(Upper blue text)

The memo that the Fukuoka Prefecture Chief of Police circulated to police stations on 11/15/1933 (Shouwa 8)

(Blue text to the left, pointing back to the previous page)

Hokkaido Shimbun, 6/10/1933 (Shouwa 8)

In a June 1933 (Shouwa 8) edition of the Hokkoku Shimbun, it was reported that medal type pachinko was extremely popular at a Kanazawa amusement center. Medal type pachinko was banned under the ban for issen pachinko.

However in April of the following year, the Hokkoku Shimbun also reported on Ishikawa Prefecture's ban on the exchanging of pachinko prize medals for money. This was the actual ban on pachinko. The same edition of that newspaper also printed that at the time there were approximately 150 pachinko parlors in the Ishikawa area.

(Blue text at the top)

Hokkoku Shimbun 4/24/1934 (Shouwa 9)

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Pachinko's Origins, Nobel Prize for the Pachinko Industry, Also the Origins of Kurage and Tulips too

Bagatelle (Corinth Game) Room

Correlation Diagram (The Development of Bagatelle)

picture 10

Picture-story show board!
"Although not directly related to pachinko, the picture-story show was also operated by street vendors as entertainment for children, just like the early days of pachinko"

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A pachinko parlor around 1934

picture 12

"a photo of pachinko operation by street vendors"

picture 13

a flyer for the Japanese baseball pachinko.  

"The target area was not only Japan but also Manchuria.  Manchuria was a puppet nation of Japan founded at today's northeastern China"

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Whether it's the All 8, All 10, All 15 or All 20, the 6 Hole 6 Pinwheel Masamura Gauge Works With Them All

The Reality of the Masamura Gauge (1)

Diagram 1 shows a Masamura amusement machine published in the October 1953 (Shouwa 28) edition of the Pachinko Encyclopedia, published by Osaka's Nippon Yuugi Shimbunsha. That same publication printed "Most of the gauges in amusement machines today being manufactured by various companies are following in the footsteps of Takeichi Masamura, so does this mean that the Masamura should be the standard?". They also discussed "The keys and techniques of pin adjustment", providing an explanation of said pin adjustment with the Masamura standard. This is shown in Diagram 2. And in 1953 (Shouwa 28) we learned just how prevalent the 6 hole 6 pinwheel Masamura Gauge would be. Diagram 1 doesn't depict a rapid firing model, but the same issue also introduced each company's rapid firing model machines. This even included production photos of the automatic firing Tokkyu Tsubame machine from Tsubame Shokai.

A ban on rapid firing machines was issued in November 1954 (Shouwa 29) from the Tokyo public safety commission. A part of the Masamura Pachinko Museum catalog, people involved in the pachinko industry commissioned a life-sized bronze statue of Takeichi Masamura in May 1954 (Shouwa 29). This was the beginning of Masamura's deification, but the rapid fire ban came about half a year later. This dealt a huge blow to not just Masamura, but the entire pachinko industry. Both rapid firing machines and the All 20 were both banned at the same time, leading to the All 15 overtaking the All 10. To avoid losing customer interest, development then began on the Masamura Gauge All 15.

The industry referred to the Masamura Gauge All 15 simply as the Masamura Gauge. Diagram 3 shows the Masamura Standard Gauge, as talked about by writer Jirou Gyuu in 1980 (Shouwa 55).

Diagram 1 - The Original Masamura Amusement Machine (6 Holes, 6 Pinwheels)

Diagram 2 - The Masamura Standard in 1953 (Shouwa 28) (6 Holes, 6 Pinwheels)

Diagram 3 - The Masamura Standard Gauge (6 Holes, 6 Pinwheels)

picture 22

The above machine was determined to be a fake by Katsuichi Masamura and Emiko Suzuki. An authentic one will have the Masamura seal in various locations, as seen on the right.

(Caption pointing at image)

The Masamura seal

(Quote on left)

"We have removed pinwheel. Aim and shoot Tenkugi (refer to Note 1)."  (this translation by naxoz2016)

The Reality of the Masamura Gauge (2)

Masamura Shokai went public in August 1951 (Shouwa 26).  The name plate that you see above is the oldest on all of the machines here, and says "Public Company" ("Kabushiki Gaisha"). Therefore we can guess that this machine was made on August 1951 to 1952.

In the very middle of the Nails of Heaven (pinwheel) on this machine, there are nail marks in the center of the pinwheel. (nazox2016 translation version: "There is a nail mark of the pinwheel on centre of the four of Tenkugi") And because there are semi circular nail marks surrounding the pinwheel, we can assume that this machine's predecessor has a pinwheel on the 天四本. Therefore, the 天四本 are vestiges of having removed the pinwheel.

If you take the pinwheel and remove the nail from the problematic spot on "Jigoku no Enma Daiou" ("The Ruler of Hell"), the machine across from this one, the nail marks will match the ones found in this one. However, the depth of the nail holes is only that of the cell plate, so it wasn't actually getting hit. (refer to Note 2 below)

It's believed that Masamura Shokai was making 6 hole 7 pinwheel machines before the 6 hole 6 pinwheel ones, and it can be seen in the 1953 Pachinko Encyclopedia that 6 hole 7 pinwheel was apparently popular at the time.

Other companies started manufacturing Masamura Gauges from 1951 (Shouwa 26). But it's also believed that leaving pinwheel nail marks was unique to Masamura Shokai, and was in fact their sales point.

These translation notes provided by nazox2016:

Note 1: Tenkugi

“Ten-Kugi (天釘)” means “the Top nails”.

“天 (Ten)” means heaven, sky, or top (Generally, it means what is at the top).  “釘 (Kugi)” means nail. 

Sometimes Ten-Kugi is calld “Ten-Yon-Hon (天四本)”. It means the four (nails) at the top.

Ten-Yon-Hon was the most notable feature of Masamura gauge.

Note 2: Nail marks

The top part of “Jigoku no Enma Daiou“. The model before Masamura gauge had established.

 

The early time model of the Masamura gauge. There are nail marks of removed a pinwheel and some nails. However those nail marks are fake. 

The image of stack between "Jigoku no Enma Daiou" and Masamura gauge.

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The above machine is a fake that resembles an original, right down to the nail marks above the Nails of Heaven (Diagram 1). We can tell this from the fact that there's no seal, as discussed on the left. It was sold by Muramasa Shokai, in Tokyo. Diagram 2 is a trademarked advertisement from Muramasa Shokai that was printed in a phone book in 1954, and they existed from 1952 to 1956 (after the rapid-fire ban).

The Reality of the Masamura Gauge (3)

Regarding why the 7 Hole 6 Pinwheel is also a Masamura Gauge, Takeichi Masamura and Emiko Suzuki stated "The current Masamura Gauge is absolutely widely recognized as the 7 hole Masamura Gauge all 15. Why is that? Because Mr. Takeuchi confirmed it. Kunie Takeuchi is the Board Chairman and Advisor for the Pachinko Machine Association's Nikkou Group, in other words a representative for the pachinko business. And in that capacity, he installed the Masamura Gauge seal on the 7 Hole Masamura Gauge All 15. This symbol will continue to serve it's roll: In the Nikkou Group's commemorative publication "The Progress of 25 Years", as well as in the future editions of 30, 35 and 50 years, and will continue to remain esteemed for as long as the pachinko industry exists." Takeuchi's factory became affiliated with Masamura Shokai in 1954.

(Note: I wasn't actually able to confirm that Kunie Takeuchi's name is in fact read this way. The kanji is 武内国栄, so if you have anyone to confirm that reading with, it would probably be good)

Since it was recognized by Kunie Takeuchi, both of them say that the 7 Hole is undoubtedly a Masamura Gauge.

The All Mono is a device which was created to automatically dispense them into a container, whereas previously people had to gather them up by hand. Kunie Takeuchi initially worked at Kazuo Nagasaki's company, Nagasaki Shokai.

Kunie Takeuchi, Toshio Ito and Yoshihiro Ikuno (who came up with the idea of a pachinko machine called Takarakuji, which dispensed a lot of balls that you had to gather up by hand in 1948) also had a conversation in the 15th anniversary edition of "Yuugi Tsuushin" ("Game News") on 11/15/1966. And the moderator was none other than the founder of Yuugi Tsuushin, Shigeo Ito. Below are some excerpts from the interview. Toshio Ito became involved with Masamura Shokai in 1950, having been put in charge of their first factory.

(Note: I was again not able to verify the reading for these two people's names: Toshio Ito (伊藤寿夫) and Yoshihiro Ikuno (久野義博). Again if they can be confirmed somehow, that would probably be best.)

(Moderator) The All Mono was developed and sold at Mr. Nagasaki's business.

(Takeuchi) Mr. Kogawa is running it now, right? That became the All Mono in 1950, then of course there's the All 10...

(Ito) Until the All 10, everyone picked up the balls with their hands...

(Ikuno) It's not done anymore because it gets really noisy, but I was the first one to attach a bell to it.

They all confirm that balls were gathered up by hand until the release of Nagasaki's All Mono in 1950.

Emiko Suzuki has stated that the Masamura Gauge began with the All 10. However the Masamura All 10 to the right is not a Masamura Gauge.

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The Reality of the Masamura Gauge (4)

The Masamura Gauge is 6 holes and 6 pinwheels, and can be manufactured for an All 8, All 10, All 15, or All 20. But even if a 6 hole Masamura Gauge is used in an All 8 or All 10, the prize balls dispensed won't be in the correct ratio so customers won't be happy. In 1952, Takeichi Masamura selected the All 10 to have the above shown 9 hole 4 pinwheel configuration.

A machine with the same gauge configuration as the above Masamura Shokai manufactured All 10 was featured in the article "Pachinko Secret Instructor" in the 10/10/1951 edition of the Mainichi Graph. A photo from the article is pictured in diagram 1. The machine pictured here is a 9 hole 4 pinwheel, and you can just barely see that the nameplate on it is not the one for Masamura Shokai. Along with the Bambi machine on the left, there are many more 9 hole 4 pinwheel All 10s here in this museum.

At the time Masamura was manufacturing the most popular machines that contained the All 10, but these were not Masamura Gauges.

Diagram 2 is from the October 1953 edition of the Pachinko Encyclopedia, introducing pachinko products and their prices. The word "plate" featured in this diagram is thought to be misprinted (Note: it was printed as "puureto" instead of "pureeto"). The "chucker" in the sentence "Masamura (chucker included) 9 hole" sentence here is referring to the prize openings.

Consequently this 9 hole can also be seen in the above machine. The 6 hole is the Masamura Gauge All 15.

There are 8 hole versions, but the ones that typically come to mind are the 9 hole 4 pinwheel machines with a gap in the center casing, an arch shaped opening, and prize openings on the bottom. There was concern over customers not being happy due to less prize openings, but balls fly around in multiple directions in the arch shaped opening, which raises the probability of them going out of the five prize openings on the bottom.

It's believed that Takeuchi Masamura read the minds of the customers and manufactured the 6 hole All 15, the 9 hole All 10, and the 8 hole All 10 in 1953.

What's shown in diagram 2 is not a 7 hole Masamura Gauge, according to Takeichi Masamura and Emiko Suzuki. It's thought that the 7 holes were put into service after the rapid fire ban, in order to win back the dwindling number of customers. But if that's true then the necessity of aiming for the 天四本 would have faded and the real value of the Masamura Gauge wouldn't have shone through. The 7 hole Masamura Gauge is nothing less than the god of pachinko come to earth.

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The Reality of the Masamura Gauge (5)

The Masamura Shokai made 9 hole 4 pinwheel "Golden Kite" on the left and the Masamura Shokai made "Fruits" above are both thought to have been manufactured around 1952. This is because the nameplates affixed to them on the lower left are nearly identical. The left machine has "originator" written on it vertically, but the left machine has the same thing written horizontally. Both of them have "Registered Trademark" written on the bottom-most part of the plate as well.

The cover of the 2017 edition of the Pachinko Encyclopedia featured a machine with this plate (referenced on the panel above the machine immediately above this), and stated that it was from 1950. This is incorrect.

As is displayed in our museum garage, popular makers Takeya and Toyokuni Amusements were manufacturing the Masamura Gauge All 15 in around 1952. This not because they were imitating Masamura Shokai machines, but rather because these makers embraced the All 15 due to this gauge configuration being so popular with customers.

So for how long was the above plate actually used?

The diagram on the left is an official document that was submitted by Takeichi Masamura on March 30th 1953, and was registered under the name "Combination Pachinko Machine Name Plate Form and Pattern" on August 5th of the same year. If you turn the official plate horizontally, you'd get the same name plate that you see on the Masamura machine to the right of the one above.

Takeichi Masamura didn't mark his machines in a way that particularly stood out, so he included more stand-out name plates so that they wouldn't be counterfeited. Basically the above machine was before he was including the name plates, and was used up until March 1953. He submitted this stand-out plate to help prevent counterfeiting, along with mass manufacturing of the rapid fire Masamura Gauge.

In other words, Masamura understood the importance of filing for this name plate. He knew that he couldn't do it for the Masamura Gauge, which was already on the market.

It's said that Takeichi Masamura didn't file a patent for the Masamura Gauge and shared it with other manufacturers, but this is certainly folklore.

Takeichi Masamura's original contribution to pachinko machine name plates was "You've caught the pinwheel, now aim for the Nails of Heaven"

(Note: Repeating this from page 22: I'm not completely sure how to interpret this. Maybe it's my lack of pachinko knowledge or just not quite grasping the terminology fully here. For example, maybe 風車をとる (or "catching/taking the pinwheel") actually means something that I just don't realize. It could also mean "remove the pinwheel"....is that a thing?)

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The Reality of the Masamura Gauge (6)

The above nameplate is marked with design document number 104515. And as such, this machine was manufactured after August 5th 1953, the date on which this document number was registered. The October 1953 edition of the Pachinko Encyclopedia introduced Masamura Shokai machines using the non-rapid firing All 15 during the height of rapid firing machine popularity. It's thought that Masamura Shokai rapid firing machines were manufactured later than those of other companies.

The name plate design document on the patent is pictured here in black and white (in diagram 1), but the actual name plate is as you see it on display here: 

A wonderful gold embossed plate with black lettering. This plate is on display at the Masamura Pachinko Museum as being "From 1947-1948", and marked as "Takarakuji" ("Lottery"). It's referenced on the above panel as "being a fake at the height of the Masamura Gauge".

The "20 Doors" ("nijuu no tobira") machine on display next to the spiral staircase here in the main building of our own museum has a Suzutomi Shokai name plate affixed to it, but it's common knowledge that machines manufactured by other companies were placed in pachinko parlors with the name plates of private companies on them, at the time. Accordingly, Masamura Shokai was allowed to put a Masamura name plate on the Yoshihiro Ikuno created "Takarakuji". However the nameplate on display at the Pachinko Museum shows a different manufactured year, and the documentation here also states that it was a fake.

(Notes: Similar to page 23: I wasn't able to confirm that Yoshihiro Ikuno (久野義博) is actually read this way. Confirmation would probably be best)

And of course "Takarakuji" was published in the 2017 edition of the Pachinko Encyclopedia. The machine shown in diagram 2 also appeared in the same publication as "Komono (1946, Masamura Shokai)". This machine is proof that post-war Masamura name plates were affixed to pre-war machines. A 1997 illustrated book from the Masamura Pachinko Museum printed pictures of a fake with the name plate removed that was blocking the ball holes. It just so happened that when I visited the museum in February of 1996, the machine in diagram 2 was on display there.

There's a dragon design on the center casing of the above machine, but this design is also used on a 7 hole 6 pinwheel machine made after the rapid fire ban. We're happy that this machine doesn't appear in the Pachinko History Encyclopedia, but unfortunately some fakes are still printed there.

This fake was also pointed out by Kunie Takeuchi, and consequently published in the1985 publication "The Pachinko - Pachinko Machine Illustrated Encyclopedia''. This was handed over to the Masamura Pachinko Museum, and from there the information reached the Pachinko History Encyclopedia as well.

(Note: As on page 23, I wasn't actually able to confirm that Kunie Takeuchi's name is in fact read this way. The kanji is 武内国栄, so if you have anyone to confirm that reading with, it would probably be good)

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The Reality of the Masamura Gauge (7)

The Masamura Gauge began making appearances in movies with the October 1951 Toho film "Hope san", which is listed in the middle of the exhibit on the right titled "Unraveling the Story of the Masamura Gauge in Movies". Upon watching this film, you'll learn that it was shot on location around August of 1951. You'll also learn that the machine shown on screen is not a Masamura Shokai manufactured one, by taking a look at the briefly shown nameplate on it.

The oldest Masamura Shokai machine here in the museum is the "You've caught the pinwheel, now aim for the Nails of Heaven" machine displayed over on the left row. This machine was manufactured somewhere between August 1951 and 1952. The machine that appeared in "Hope san" is one older than Masamura Shokai's. Therefore the Masamura Gauge there is not a Takeichi Masamura original.

(Note: Again repeating this from page 22: I'm not completely sure how to interpret this. Maybe it's my lack of pachinko knowledge or just not quite grasping the terminology fully here. For example, maybe 風車をとる (or "catching/taking the pinwheel") actually means something that I just don't realize. It could also mean "remove the pinwheel"....is that a thing?)

Diagrams 1 and 2 are taken from Nagoya-based Ginza Shokai's leaflet (on display just above) showing the All 15 and All 20. It seems as though this leaflet was printed immediately after the rapid-fire type machines and All 20 were banned by the Public Safety Commission in November 1954. Stating that "The rapid-fire type machines known as "machine guns" may be prohibited for use in various locations, so they will not appear here", machines then returned to how they were before rapid-fire type machines: Needing to be handed loaded with balls into an opening and fired. These two machines were photographed by Margaret Bourke-White around July 1st 1952, and were from a pachinko parlor in Tokyo's Ginza run by Monami, with the same gauge types as the All 15 and All 20.

The Masamura Gauge's design had not yet been registered, but the design patent for the All 20 was applied for in January 1954 by Nagoya-based Morio Kobayashi. The registered design is shown in diagram 3. However, this design was already being manufactured by Monami.

According to the book "How to Win at Pachinko" (published in January 1952) by Keishichi Ishiguro and Genichi Yanome, the Monami All 15 had A and B types, stating that it was the "superior machine" amongst All Monos. The cover illustration of this book was of the Monami All 15 B type. The A type is stated as having "an equilateral triangle at the top as a base for the four pinwheels, and an additional two pinwheels in the center''. There are pinwheels on this machine where the 天四本 would be on a Masamura Gauge. The Masamura All 15's nail marks give customers the impression that they've caught the pinwheels, so there were definitely pinwheels here. Masamura Shokai and Monami were manufacturing the same machine at the same time, but it's believed that Monami's nail mark-less machine was a little bit quicker to market.

(Notes: Same issue here that I mentioned on page 22:  can't really determine from context what the 天四本 are/is. The characters individually mean "heaven" (the same character found in "pins of heaven") and also "four cylindrical objects" afterward. I found this diagram which points them out on a machine (at 10b), I just do not know enough to know what to call these: https://astamuse.com/ja/drawing/JP/972/15/823/A/000015.png. Also again we have the "caught the pinwheels" phrase which I mentioned in the earlier note.)

Mindan Aichi Prefecture Headquarters published "Mindan Aichi 60 Year History" in 2007, which contained a feature entitled "The Story of Nagoya Pachinko". It mentioned that Monami Shokai (currently Sanyo) was one of the biggest manufacturer success stories in the industry in 1948. Monami's founder was Mindan's Opinion Leader Hisseki Kyo. His role as President was taken over in 1955, then the company would become Sanyo afterward.

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The Reality of the Masamura Gauge (8)

The publication "Mindan Aichi 60 Year History" made mention of the names Kanki Jou (Currently the president of the Kohaku Group) and Makoto Kensai (Currently with King Tourism Group) as forerunners to the world of pachinko business management, having entered it in 1949. They were shown the ropes of the pachinko business by Takeichi Masamura himself. The names Osamu Kinkou, Mamoru Kanemitsu and Yoshihide Jun also came up as Masamura's three best students.

(Note: I'm not absolutely certain that the readings of 鄭煥麒 and 権載允 are "Jou Kanki" and Makoto Kensai respectively. Not sure if there's a way to verify that or not. I tried and could not verify the readings. I also had no way of verifying the readings for the names 金甲守, 金充坤 and 李吉秀 with 100% certainty.)

They were also mentioned by name in Emiko Suzuki's "Nails of Heaven". Osamu Kinkou served on the Board of Directories at the height of Masamura Shokai's success, then went on to lead Nisshon Kanko to financial success and open a large pachinko and sauna leisure center. Mamoru Kanemitsu lead Reito Kanko to financial success, and opened various hall venues. Yoshihide Jun lead Daimaru to financial success, and made many genuine developments in the amusement industry. They're also written as expressing their sincere thanks to Takeichi Masamura in this same book, making him truly the god of the pachinko industry. But the "Nails of Heaven" Masamura Gauge is not the "Original Masamura Gauge".

Masamura Shokai went into decline after the rapid-fire ban, but the Masamura Gauge lived on as a device that various companies continued to use and innovate with, in the Masamura Gauge All 15.

According to Toyoshige Haneda of Haneda Manufacturing, the diagram shows the "Pachinko Safe Ball Receiver", patent number 37-20457 filed on 08/08/1962.

The tulip was originally planned to be "blooming" from beneath the 天四本.

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Transcription:

pict杉山一夫 さつき

ご挨拶

　私が創元社より、パチンコのルーツを解き明かした『パチンコ誕生 シネマの世紀 の大衆娯楽』を出版したのは、2008 （平成20）年8月のことである。資料的な価値が あるということで、全国の図書館にご購入いただき、読者から本に載っている現存最 古のパチンコ台他を見せてほしいという声が相次いだ。自宅では対応できないので、翌2009年2月、東京銀座の新井画廊で、本に載せた私の版画とともにパチンコ機やコ リントゲームを展示したところ大変な反響で、私はNHKテレビ他に出演した。パチ ンコ業界のお歴々にもご覧いただいたが、業界はパチンコの歴史に関心が薄く、本は 当てにしていた業界人には買ってもらえず、ほどなく絶版となった。 パチンコ業界は、金儲けには熱心だが、パチンコの文化史には全く関心がないようで、 業界が報じているパチンコの歴史は私が本を出す前とあまり変わらず、現在に至って いる。手打ち式パチンコは大正末に始まり、約50年間存在した。 展覧会後、私はパチンコ業界や公共の博物館等々にパチンコの寄贈を申し出たのであ るが、パチンコはギャンブル依存症等で非常に評判が悪く、全て断わられた。だが、本を出してから12 年目であるにもかかわらず、一部の読者からは、いまだに私のも つパチンコ台が見たいという連絡がある。私も歳をとった。そこで私の、手打ち式パ チンコの50年間を網羅したパチンココレクションを引き継いでくれる人を探すため、自宅をリフォームし、日曜の午前11時から午後5時まで開館の、｢パチンコ誕生博物 館」を始めることにした。ご覧いただく方に入場料5百円分、私がご納得いただける まで解説いたします。

パチンコ誕生博物館にようこそ!

2020（令和2）年 6月 吉日 杉山一夫・さつき

Translation (editing done by tweakbod, using machine translation)

Greetings

It was August 2008 when I published The Birth of Pachinko: Popular

Entertainment in the Century of Cinema from Sogensha, a book that revealed the

roots of pachinko. The book was purchased by libraries across the country because

of its value as a reference material, and a number of readers asked to see the oldest

existing pachinko machine and other items in the book.

Since I could not do this at home, I exhibited the pachinko machines and

Corinthian games along with my prints in the book at Arai Gallery in Ginza,

Tokyo in February 2009. I also appeared on NHK television and other media.

Although the book was seen by many people in the pachinko industry, the industry

was not interested in the history of pachinko, and the book went out of print soon

after because the people I had hoped would buy it did not.

The pachinko industry is keen on making money but has no interest in the cultural

history of pachinko, and the history of pachinko as reported by the industry has not

changed much since before I published my book. hand shot pachinko began at the

end of the Taisho era and existed for about 50 years.

After the exhibition, I offered to donate pachinko machines to the pachinko

industry and public museums, but they all refused because pachinko has a very

bad reputation due to gambling addiction. However, even though it has been

twelve years since I published my book, some readers still contact me asking to

see my pachinko machines.

I'm getting old. So, in order to find someone to take over my pachinko collection,

which covers 50 years of hand shot pachinko machines, I decided to renovate my

house and start the Birth of Pachinko Museum, which will be open on Sundays

from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. I will provide explanations until you are satisfied with my

work, for an admission fee of 500 yen.

Welcome to the Birth of Pachinko Museum!

June, 2020 (Good day) Kazuo and Satsuki Sugiyama

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2009-02-06 The Asahi Shimbun newspaper

Transcription:

朝日新聞2009（平成21）年2月6日

街メガロポリスひと Megalopolis

パチンコ大正期に起源

大衆娯楽・パチンコのルーツを15年間にわたって探り続けた神奈川県横須賀市の版画家杉山一夫さん(58)が、業界でも「現存しない」とされていた戦前のパチンコ台を見つけ出した。たどり着いたパチンコのルーツとは。（其山史晃）

最古のパチンコ台とは「岡式電氣自動球遊機」のことだ。縦86センチ、横55センチの木製の枠にブリキ張りの盤面が張られ、「本塁打」「二塁打」「アウト」の穴がある。 硬貨投入口に一銭玉を入れると、金属玉が一つ出てくる。それを手打ち式ハンドルではじく。いわば野球ゲームだ。

名前こそ「自動」だが、裏側をのぞくと機械らしい仕掛けは何もない。これが「一銭パチンコ」の名で昭和初期に親しまれた機械だ。

パチンコの起源は、くぎを打った横置きの盤面で玉をはじく「コリントゲーム」というのがほぼ定説だった。1932 （昭和7）年、国内で製造されて大流行し、後にこれを直立させたものがパチンコになったと言われてきた。

しかし、杉山さんは大正末期に英国伝来の「ウオールマシン」と呼ばれる縦置きのゲーム機が日本で製造され、29年に実用新案として大阪の業者2社から出願されていたことを突き止めた。この背後の機械類を取り外した状態のゲームこそ、「一銭パチンコ」だったという。

当時を知る人によると、パチンコ台の背後では香具師が台を操作し、口上で客を引きつけた。仕掛けを外したのは、台の軽量化や扱いやすさなどが理由とみられる。その結果、数台並べて列をつくるパチンコ特有の「シマ」ができ、いまの屋内営業形式につながったと考えられる。

戦後、米兵と愛人契約した女性「オンリーさん」をテーマにした版画作品が大英博物館に収蔵されている杉山さんが、パチンコに興味を持ったのは子どものころ。「いつか起源を解き明かしたい」と考えていた。自宅には年代物のパチンコ台などが300台以上あり、海外取材や資料収集も含め約4千万円かけた。

不毛なことに大金と労力をつぎ込んでいるのではないか、と不安だった。でも今は、どんなものにも歴史があり、文化を持つことがわかった達成感でいっぱいです」◇

杉山さんは10~21日、東京・銀座7丁目の新井画廊で、一銭パチンコや最古のウオールマシンを展示する。

手前が「一銭パチンコ」。「ルーツは調べ切った」と杉山一夫さん=横須賀市の自宅

Translation (editing done by tweakbod, using machine translation):

Asahi Shimbun, February 6, 2009 (Heisei 21)

Neighbourhood People  - Megalopolis

Pachinko Originated in the Taisho Era

Kazuo Sugiyama, 58, a printmaker from Yokosuka City, Kanagawa Prefecture, who has been exploring the roots of the popular entertainment pachinko for 15 years, has discovered a pre-war pachinko machine that was believed by the industry to be "no longer in existence.” What are the roots of pachinko that he found?

(Fumiaki Soyama) *name reading not confirmed, but this is the byline

The earliest pachinko machine was the Okashiki electric automatic ball-playing machine*. The wooden frame is 86 centimeters long and 55 centimeters wide, with a tin-covered board and holes for home run, double and out. When you put a coin into the coin slot, one metal ball comes out, which is flicked by a hand-operated handle. It is a baseball game, so to speak.

*Okashiki Denki Jidou Kyuyuki

The name of the machine is Automatic, but if you look at the back, you will see that there is nothing mechanical about it. This is the machine that was popular in the early Showa period under the name One Sen Pachinko.

It was generally accepted that pachinko originated as a Corinthian game in which balls were played on a horizontal board with nails driven into it, and that it becamevery popular when it was manufactured in Japan in 1932 (Showa 7), and that it later became pachinko when it was made upright.

However, Mr. Sugiyama discovered that a vertical game machine called a wall machine, which was introduced in the UK during in the late Taisho period, was manufactured in Japan, and that two companies from Osaka had applied for it as a utility model [patent] in 1929. It is said that this game, with the machinery behind it removed, was called one sen pachinko.

(Taisho period: 30 July 1912 to 25 December 1926)

According to a person who knew the game at the time, a stall-keeper operated the machinery behind the pachinko stand and attracted customers by mouth. It is believed that the reason for removing the mechanism was to make the units lighterand easier to handle. As a result, pachinko machines were lined up in rows of several machines to form a unique shima, which is thought to have led to the current indoor business format.

Mr. Sugiyama, whose print work on the theme of Only san, a woman in a mistress agreement with a U.S. soldier, which is in the collection of the British Museum, had first became interested in pachinko as a child. He had been thinking that “one day I would like to uncover the origin of pachinko.” He has more than 300 vintagepachinko machines in his house, and has spent about 40 million yen, including overseas research and collection of materials.

(Jisho entry for Only san - prostitute attached to a single member of the postwar Occupation Forces.)

“I was worried that I was putting a lot of money and effort into something that wasbarren. But now I feel a sense of accomplishment, knowing that everything has a history and a culture.”

◇

Sugiyama will be exhibiting his one sen pachinko and the oldest wall machine at Arai Gallery in Ginza 7-chome, Tokyo, from the10th to 21st.

[photo caption]

In the foreground is the one sen pachinko. “I have investigated the roots,” said Kazuo Sugiyama - his home in Yokosuka City.

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2008-10-19 The Nihon Keizai Shimbun newspaper reporting on the publication of Sugiyama's book Pachinko Tanjo

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1999-05-28 note on a TV program about the "Masamura gauge", Mainichi Shimbun