exploring pachinko in foreign cinema...

While I was doing research for the post about pachinko in Japanese cinema I came across a number of films made in Japan, or at least about Japan, that featured pachinko but weren't made by Japanese creators.

As with any external cultural gaze, many liberties get taken, and characterizations are done in broad strokes that lack in varying levels of nuance.  But ever since I saw Jackie Chan smash the shit out of an Interflip Dragon pinball machine in Rumble In The Bronx, I've kind of been curious about how different cultures present cultural touchstones like this.

Once again this is not a definitive list of any kind, just a general survey.  It might still get added to at a later date if I stumble on other interesting examples.  Feel free to suggest some.  I'd especially like to get more pre-1980 ones on here.

The list of movies included: (so far)

1955 - House of Bamboo [America]

1983 - Tokyo-Ga [Germany]

1984 - Sukiyaki And Chips  [Britain]

1987 - 最後勝利 (Final Victory) [Hong Kong]

1989 - Black Rain [America]

1995 - 霹靂火 (Thunderbolt) [South Korea]

1999 - 8½ Women [Netherlands]

1999 - Erleuchtung garantiert (Englightenment Guaranteed) [Germany]

2003 - Lost In Translation [America]

2009 - 新宿事件 / San suk si gin (Shinjuku Incident) [Hong Kong]

• pachinko in Japanese cinema part 1: before 1970
• pachinko in Japanese cinema part 2: 1970+
• pachinko in foreign cinema...

gameroom update

My gameroom is a galley kitchen setup: over 20 feet long, but just under 7 feet across.  It's been a long journey of tiny optimizations, find a few more centimeters here and there.  I took some time during the pandemic and redid the modular shelves a bit, expanding the vertical games that are up at chest level, and the pantry absorbing more of the lower space.  (this is actually more efficient as it gives us more shelf space for storage, as the upright games are shorted than just the shelf height divided by 2)

so the lineup went from this:

to this:

and then with the 3 on facing wall, I now have 9 upright machines at a reasonable height + position

Niche Mechanisms 003: skill flicks

Perhaps you've seen a Bally Skill Roll before?   There is a long history in arcade games where you insert a coin and that coin becomes part of the game.  These are generally called "drop case" games, but I want to focus on one specific type of these games, that I'm calling "skill flick" machines.

Skill Flick: machines where you flick along the coin you put into the machine, and it's dependent on skill alone.  So that means no machines with bagatelle-style or pachinko-style playfields that make the skill negligible.  Some shots might be next to impossible, but the only thing standing in between you and a win is a Skilled Flick.

1958 Bally Skill-Roll

Let's get flicking!

Modern Pachinko commercial

 

Other games included in the arcade:

1. Zaxxon
2. Medieval Madness
3. Asteroids
4. pool table
5. dart board

Disclaimer:  I am in no way connected to Modern Pachinko or have ever ordered from them, nor have they asked me to post this or been in contact.  I just think this is an incredibly cool video they had made, and I converted it to an animated GIF.   the GIF is like 28 MB in size, so hopefully it loads ok for you.

Futurama s6e19

 

exploring pachinko in Japanese cinema... part 1

We do a lot of "pin spotting" and finding which movies show which pinball machines, but I went and searched for movies that had "pachinko" mentioned somewhere.  I wanted to see what the Japanese cinematic take on pachinko was.

In this post I'll be looking at Japanese movies and posting screen-captures of scenes with pachinko.  I will be doing a separate post to really focus on foreign cinema's take on pachinko in Japan. 

• pachinko in Japanese cinema part 1: before 1970
• pachinko in Japanese cinema part 2: 1970+
• pachinko in foreign cinema...

20th century American movies that show pinball in a prominent way often use it to underscore the trouble-makers and youth culture led astray.  There is certainly a similar heavy strain of that through Japanese movies that have pachinko.

Pachinko is a form of gambling, and the tradition is more aligned with American cinema that focuses on gambling.  That is, central themes of delinquency, gangsters, and addiction are common.

While in earlier movies pachinko is far more social and entertainment, late films sometimes depict pachinko as a metaphor for emptiness, despair, and just giving up, something you might see alcoholism fill the space for in an American movie.  While never looked at naively, some of the earlier films at least have a more sympathetic and romantic framing of pachinko.  Characters using pachinko as a social backdrop is far more inviting than the later imagery of pachinko as metaphor for despair.

This post will end up being nothing more than just a visual examination of movies that have pachinko in them, it isn't intended as a thesis of any sort.  I won't add a lot of comments, but I will try and add some context as we go.

This list is not meant to be comprehensive, just a scattering of movies I found through various methods searching for pachinko information.  That said, if you have a movie with pachinko to recommend, please do reply!

We're going to go in chronological order, here is a quick summary of what's inside:

1949 - 野良犬 / Nora inu (Stray Dog)

1949 - 私刑（リンチ） (Rinchi)
1952 - お茶漬けの味 / Ochazuke no aji (The Flavor of Green Tea Over Rice)
1952 - 東京の恋人 / Tôkyô no koibito (Tokyo Sweetheart)
1952 - 生きる / Ikiru (To Live)

1952 - 本日休診 / Honjitsu kyûshin (Doctor's Day Off)

1952 - 大当りパチンコ娘 / Oatari pachinko musume (Jackpot Pachinko Girl)

1957 - 東京暮色 / Tōkyō boshoku (Tokyo Twilight)
1957 - 警視庁物語 上野発五時三五分 / Keishichō monogatari Ueno-hatsu 5:35am (Metropolitan Police Department Story: 5:35am from Ueno)
1959 - べらんめえ芸者 / Beran me-e geisha (‎The Prickly Mouthed Geisha)

1960 - 女獣 / Mejû (Woman Beast)
1961 - 豚と軍艦 / Buta To Gunkan (Pigs and Battleships)

1961 - 警視庁物語１２人の刑事 / Keishichô monogatari: jûni-nin no keiji (Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department Story: 12 Detectives)

1962 - キューポラのある街 (Foundry Town)

1962 - 恋と太陽とギャング / Koi to Taiyo to Gang (Love, Sunshine and Gangsters)

1963 - 暗黒街の顔役 十一人のギャング / Ankokugai no kaoyaku: juichinin no gyangu (The eleven gangsters who ruled the underworld)

1963 - 若い東京の屋根の下 / Wakai Tokyo no yane no shita (Under the roofs of young Tokyo)

1963 - 何か面白いことないか / Nanika omoroi koto nai ka
1964 - 夜の片鱗 / Yoru no Henrin (The Shape of Night)
1968 - 喜劇初詣列車 / Kigeki hatsumoude resha (Comedy Hatsumode Train)
1968 - (秘)トルコ風呂 / Maruhi toruko buro (Secret Turkish Bath)

1969 - 現代やくざ 与太者仁義  Gendai Yakuza Yotamono Jingi (A Modern Yakuza The Code of The Lawless)

1969 - 関東テキヤ一家 / Kantô Tekiya ikka (Kanto Street Peddlers)

1970 - ずべ公番長 夢は夜ひらく / Zubekô banchô: yume wa yoru hiraku (Delinquent Girl Boss: Blossoming Night Dreams)

1974 - ㊙色情めす市場  (Maruhi) shikijô mesu ichiba (Secret Chronicle - She Beast Market)
1975 - 濡れた欲情　ひらけ！チューリップ (Wet Lust: Opening the Tulip)
1976 - やくざの墓場　くちなしの花 / Yakuza no Hakaba: Kuchinashi no Hana (Yakuza Graveyard)

1976 - やさぐれ刑事 / Yasagure Keiji (Outlaw Cop)
1976 - 君よ憤怒の河を渉れ / Kimi yo Fundo no Kawa o Watare (Manhunt)
1976 - トラック野郎 天下御免 / Torakku yarô: tenka gomen (Trucker Yaro IV: Fully Licensed)
1977 - 男はつらいよ 寅次郎頑張れ! / Otoko wa Tsurai yo: Torajirō Gambare! (Tora-san Plays Cupid)
1977 - トラック野郎 度胸一番星 / Torakku yarô: Dokyô ichiban hoshi (Trucker Yaro V: The courageous star)
1979 - 復讐するは我にあり / Fukushū Suru wa Ware ni Ari (Vengeance Is Mine)
1987 - マルサの女 / Marusa no onna (A Taxing Woman)
1996 - Shall we ダンス / ? (Shall We Dance?)
1997 - ワイルドライフ (Wild Life)
1999 - どんてん生活 / Donten seikatsu (Hazy Life)
2000 - 殺し / Koroshi (Film Noir)
2000 - はつ恋 / Hatsukoi (First Love)
2004 - 下妻物語 / Shimotsuma monogatari (Kamikaze Girls)
2007 - 国道20号線 / Kokudo 20gosen (Off Highway 20)
2009 - カイジ / カイジ　人生逆転ゲーム / Kaiji: Jinsei gyakuten gêmu (Kaiji: The Ultimate Gambler)
2011 -  カイジ2 人生奪回ゲーム (Kaiji 2: The Ultimate Gambler)
2013 - そして泥船はゆく / Soshite dorobune wa yuku (And the Mud Ship Sails Away)
2014 - そこのみにて光輝く / Soko nomi nite hikari kagayaku (The Light Shines Only There)
2020 - マザー (Mother)

Here is a list of movies I am actively searching for.  Please let me know if you have a copy.

WANTED:

1933 - 純情の都 (Junjo no miyako)

1956 - 弥次喜多道中記 (Travel Chronicles of Yaji and Kita)

1962 - ちんじゃらじゃら物語 / Chinjarajara Monogatari

1963 - 虎の子作戦 (Operation Torako)

1963 - ぐれん隊純情派 (Gurentai Junjyôha)

Niche Mechanisms 002: catchers

One of the earliest coin-op game mechs, I've seen Catcher-style game examples ranging from 1900 to 2010!

You can't mess with perfection like that.

1927 Bajazzo SG & LM by Jentzsch and Meerz, Leipzig (Germany)

Let's get catching!

screen cap from 黒い賭博師 / Kuroi tobakushi (The Black Gambler)

 

TFW you're not enjoying the slot machines

just a quick screen grab from the 1965 film 黒い賭博師 / Kuroi tobakushi (The Black Gambler)

Popeye: Japanese "Magazine for City Boys" 1978-10-25

 Saw these on a "pin spotting" group and had to share.