exploring the arcade in 野良犬 (1949) aka Nora inu (Stray Dog)

I had posted screen shots from this movie in the post exploring pachinko in Japanese cinema... part 1 but I feel it is such an important scene that it deserves it's own post.  I have also upgraded my source, using a proper bluray release for the screencaps.

野良犬 (1949) aka Nora inu (Stray Dog)

I am fairly confident I have identified the pinball machines we see here.  I have combed through all visual documentation of pinball up to 1949 and the cabinet matches no known game from USA or Germany or UK.

I believe this is 欧米式マーブル電装野球遊技器 (Western-style marble electric baseball game machine) by 鈴富 (Suzutomi).

From Kazuo Sugiyama's book Corinthian, here is an advertisement for it:

The dual lines with breaks for a large circle match perfectly to what we see in Stray Dog. We have no way of knowing for sure, perhaps photographs from filming could include them.

I will be adding the shooting gallery to the eremeka database. I made this composite images with two of the best angles:

unknown shooting gallery [seen in 野良犬]

Here are full stills of the gallery, including a later shot from behind the gallery:

 

This next realization is part of what prodded me to put this whole post together.

I believe director Akira Kurosawa deliberately rigged a pachinko machine to make the scene more powerful.

Our protagonist arrives at the shooting gallery, has conflict with the woman, and she steps backwards against the pachinko machines.

Notice how when we cut to this scene, before the woman enters the frame, the lever of the pachinko machine on the right is down.  There is a ball placed in the shooter lane. This is only visible for a part of a second, so you wouldn't consciously register it.

Zooming in:

ball is inserted and ready to be shot, shooter handle is held down somehow, probably from behind.

When she backs into the frame up against the machines, the ball is fired. She does not appear to touch the handle in any way, nor was there any kind of visible latching mechanism at the front of the machine.

ball is in at the top of the machine!

How was this done?  It must have been someone behind the pachinko machine holding the lever down from the backside.  The ball is shot easily and does 2 loops of the outer circle before falling in the pins, so the spring and the motion of the shooter are fine.  I own 3 antique pachinko machines from this era and I have never heard of a shooter handle getting stuck down. What limits the shooter range is always just wood or metal physically preventing it from going farther, so there is nothing for it to get "stuck" on.

So that means that to get this shot, director Akira Kurosawa must have had a grip load the ball then wait behind the pachinko machine, hold the lever down, and then release it when the woman steps back towards the pachinko machines.

This is an extremely subtle detail, and there is no way it could be accidental.  Has anyone else noticed this detail before?  Kurosawa is a very famous director and his movies have been loved by fans and academics for decades, so perhaps this has been mentioned elsewhere.

I would like to know what people think Kurosawa hoped to convey by making this decision.  I had not noticed this before, so it was working subconsciously in the scene.  Now that I notice it, it certainly does add emphasis to the scene.

Let's end with looking at the other pachinko machines we see.  Over her right shoulder is a pachinko machine that says "BASE BALL" on the front, and in the last frame we see half of another pachinko machine.

 

If you have any pachinko machines that look like these, with a grid of nails, I might be interested in purchasing it.  Please email me at thetastates@gmail.com

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This blog stands in solidarity with all of the youth who are being terrorized by a fascist president who has declared them to be threats that must be eliminated.

scans: Japan museum catalogues for Gambling, Dice, and Mahjong exhibitions

I bought these 3 catalogues from museum exhibitions in Japan.  They were scanned by Detchibe.

Great overviews of Gambling in general, Dice games, and Mahjong history. 

ギャンブルの歴史展 [Gambling History Exhibition] (600DPI)

 

振れ！振れ！サイコロ展 [Amusement Industry Research Institute 16th Special Exhibition: Shake! Shake! Dice Exhibition] (600DPI)

マージャン魅力展 [Amusement Industry Research Institute 15th Special Exhibition: Mahjong Charm Exhibition] (600DPI)

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This blog stands in protest against the USA's horrific policies to try and eliminate trans people from society.  Trans people have always existed, in every society, but the administration has embraced a moral panic, declared a war against reality, and says that trans people can no longer be allowed to exist.

This blog stands in solidarity with all of the youth who are being terrorized by a fascist president who has declared them to be threats that must be eliminated.

Please read:  South Georgia library manager fired for trans-inclusive display by Katie Burkholder 

Videos part 8

It hasn't been long since the last one, but I have another 3 GB pack of video clips ready to go.  And don't worry, there is still a lot more of these to come.  Prior video posts: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and entry 5 onward has a link to one of these ZIP files of movie clips.

These clips were edited by tweakbod, except the "Pinball vs Video Games" video contributed by iTatton‬.  Thank you! 

Here is what is in this collection:

1944 - Hotel Reserve russian billiards scene
1950s - Wales News Archive Llandudno Jukebox Factory Rewind coin-op scene
1952 - No abras nunca esa puerta pinball scene
1955 - Chicago Syndicate coin-op scene
1959 - Un maledetto imbroglio pinball scene
1961 - Night Tide arcade scenes
1964 - La vie à l'envers pinball scenes
1968 - Charlie Bubbles pinball scenes
1970 - Dramma della gelosia AKA The Pizza Triangle pinball scene
1972 - Naked Over The Fence arcade scenes
1973 - The Friends of Eddie Coyle arcade scene
1977 - Damnation Alley coin-op scene
1979 - The Wanderers arcade scenes
1980 - Les sous-doués pinball scenes
1980 - Superman II pinball scenes
1982 - Tron arcade scenes
1982 - Vai avanti tu che mi vien da ridere arcade scene
1986 - The Brotherhood of Justice arcade scene
1986 - Troppo Forte pinball scene
1990s - In A Minute... Pinball vs Video Games
1992 - Taito in Game World (Shinjuku)

There are less entries in the list this time because the incredible footage of Night Tide is a full GB by itself. But once you see it I think you'll be thrilled it was all included.

download this file (3.1 GB)

and some recent youtube videos...

 

Some extended gameplay footage of a Bingolett machine, courtesy supershotrollerrob

 And supershotrollerrob gives us a tour of his epic gambling gamerooms!

A good talk about arcade raids, a wonderful tradition that more recent arrivals in this hobby might not be familiar with.

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This blog stands in protest against the USA's horrific policies to try and eliminate trans people from society.  Trans people have always existed, in every society, but the administration has embraced a moral panic, declared a war against reality, and says that trans people can no longer be allowed to exist.

This blog stands in solidarity with all of the youth who are being terrorized by a fascist president who has declared them to be threats that must be eliminated.

Please read:  Ohio Blocks Funding For Trans-Affirming Mental Health Care For Youth And Adults by S. Baum

Please read: Meet the 13-year-old West Virginian suing to join her school's track team by Jo Yurcaba 

Pachinco Hall Design Competition (2001) by butterfly stroke inc

Found this in a book on Japanese design, and luckily there is a decent version of it on the company's website.  I wish it was a bit higher resolution, but still interesting.

 フィールズ パチンコホールデザインコンペティション (2001)
Pachinco Hall Design Competition
by butterfly stroke inc

love the "super big pachinko" and "hospital pachinko".

Pachinko fight!! Pachinko DJ!

 

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This blog stands in protest against the USA's horrific policies to try and eliminate trans people from society.  Trans people have always existed, in every society, but the administration has embraced a moral panic, declared a war against reality, and says that trans people can no longer be allowed to exist.

This blog stands in solidarity with all of the youth who are being terrorized by a fascist president who has declared them to be threats that must be eliminated.

 

exploring the arcade in 一条さゆり 濡れた欲情 (1972) aka Ichijô Sayuri: Nureta yokujô aka Ichijo's Wet Lust

1972 - 一条さゆり 濡れた欲情 / Ichijô Sayuri: Nureta yokujô (Ichijo's Wet Lust)

 

Not much to see here beyond one scene where two people are having sex on a train ride, but in the background we can see an incredible rooftop arcade lineup!

there are at least 3 Astro Boys about to watch them have sex

First we get this quick cut showing some machines in the background

 

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The pachinko machines on the left have a large graphic marquee which looks similar to, though not an exact match, for Auto Pachinko.  These utilized a variety of different pachinko cels and a variety of illustrated marquees.

1972 オートパチンコ (Auto pachinko) by 楠野 (Kusuno) & 三共 (Sankyo)

Behind her is a row of what appears to be a type of smartball machines, but they are too blurry to discern, and we don't get a decent look at their shape.

 

 

Then this woman is no longer on the ride, but standing at the side of the battery car arena.

 

Let's adjust that first picture, where the leftmost machines are slightly closer in the shot:

Starting at the right and working our way left...

The pachinko machines here have some similarities with the Auto Pachinko machine shown above.  You can see the handle along the bottom, and a darker rectangle above the shooter area where a ball tray is.  Most arcade pachinko machines of this era were the single-shot style, where you insert a ball in a hole on the right.  Except for one machine that used half-gauge machines with a 50s-style ball feed, the Auto Pachinko are one of the earliest arcade pachinko machines with a ball feed tray that I have seen.

Another example, and with a stand that is more similar, is Pachin Seven.  You can see where the ball tray would be, here replaced with a cover to circulate the balls back in.  These similar covers over the ball-tray area will be a common feature of arcade pachinko games for many years to come.

1972 Pachin Seven - パチンセブン by 昭和遊園機械 (Showa Amusement Park Machinery)

to the left, 2 copies of Crazy 15 and Let's Go Moon, all by Komaya:

1965 クレイジー15ゲーム [クレイジーフィフティーンゲーム] [マークII] (Crazy 15 game [mark II]) by こまや (Komaya)

~1968 Let's Go Moon! - レッッゴームーン by こまや (Komaya)

 

and then 3 copies of WSS Ball

~1969 WSS Ball - ダブルツーエスボール by 玉福産業 (Tamafuku Sangyo)

OK you can't actually see the 3rd copy of WSS Ball until we look at the next shot...

Moving left, 2 copies of Indy Game...

~1967 Indy Game - インディゲーム by こまや (Komaya)

and then Saturn...

~1969 Saturn - サターン号 by こまや (Komaya)

 

We've gone so far done the line, let's re-view what remains:

Continuing right-to-left, we have another very rarely scene title,

1970 大宇宙旅行 (big space travel) by 日本自動販売機 (Nihon Jidô Hanbaiki)

1962 Rack-A-Ball by Gottlieb

And finally to the left, 4 Roses that appears to have paint on the bottom of the head, and paint on the front of the cabinet.

1962 4 Roses by Williams

 

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This blog stands in protest against the USA's horrific policies to try and eliminate trans people from society.  Trans people have always existed, in every society, but the administration has embraced a moral panic, declared a war against reality, and says that trans people can no longer be allowed to exist.

This blog stands in solidarity with all of the youth who are being terrorized by a fascist president who has declared them to be threats that must be eliminated.

please read: 11th Circuit Rules Trans Teacher Must Misgender Herself In Classroom In Accordance With FL Law by Erin Reed 

 

scans: Coin Machine Review 1946

10 issues of Coin Machine Review from 1946

Coin Machine Review 1946-01

Coin Machine Review 1946-02

Coin Machine Review 1946-03

Coin Machine Review 1946-04

Coin Machine Review 1946-05

Coin Machine Review 1946-06

Coin Machine Review 1946-07

Coin Machine Review 1946-08

Coin Machine Review 1946-11

Coin Machine Review 1946-12

 

War is over, factory lines are being retooled, and things are about to start popping.  Some highlights:

 

 

 

 

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This blog stands in protest against the USA's horrific policies to try and eliminate trans people from society.  Trans people have always existed, in every society, but the administration has embraced a moral panic, declared a war against reality, and says that trans people can no longer be allowed to exist.

This blog stands in solidarity with all of the youth who are being terrorized by a fascist president who has declared them to be threats that must be eliminated.