Makoto Won 2 Million Yen on "Reiwa Tiger Founding": What He's Doing with Pachinko Inbound!

長北真 Pachinko the WORLD！海外と外国人とジャパニーズパチンコ事情

Time for the 10th column.

So, as I mentioned last time, what have I been up to since I returned to Japan in 2022? I thought I'd share a bit about that, though it might not be enough to fill an entire article.

The English talk is at the end, so please feel comfortable reading until then.

To list them briefly:

1.Creation of a pachinko and pachislot glossary
2.Researching the international pachinko scene
3.Contacting various industry insiders (aka, active on Twitter)
4.Investigating inbound tourism trends And then there's house hunting and unrelated side jobs.

That's pretty much it when you put it into words, right?

Inbound Tourism Trends

Basically, this refers to the tours and such that I've been extensively talking about here. It's not like they've been a huge, lucrative success, but I've been softly running them about twice a month.

As for the tours, as I wrote in the second edition, the original plan was to do something much more extensive. However, there's so much competition, it's like the Warring States period. Everyone's desperate, so entering the market now would be... quite challenging, to say the least. Perhaps it's better to wait until things calm down.

Also, due to the nature of the business, reservations often come in suddenly, like the day before or meeting in two hours at Akihabara! Expanding too much could be overwhelming, so for now, I'm keeping it as a "side job with the freshest information."

Researching the International Pachinko Scene

Just glued to various social networks, endlessly searching for "pachinko" and "pachislot Japan." Work? Question mark?

Then continuously contacting people who pop up. Rinse and repeat.

Most of the information that's surfaced so far is actually thanks to me (while playing pachinko) fiddling with SNS, so basically, pachinko is my main job!

Anyway, I've learned a lot from this, like search procedures.

Searching "pachinko" often brings up the novel "Pachinko," and mostly domestic information, so you have to search "pachinko machine" or "Japanese pachinko." As for pachislot, the correct search term is "pachislo machine" because the phrase "slot" can be regulated in some places, so "pachislo" has to be used (there are cases where "pachislo" can't be input or displayed).

And, machines that weren't popular in Japan sometimes become premium items abroad (like Pachislot Metal Gear Solid or Batman...), the main topic overseas is often non-LCD 'feather-type' or Showa era pachinko machines, a retro machine preference. But recently, LCD-equipped models have started gaining popularity.

At the end of the 4th machine era, machines that weren't collected by the manufacturers ended up in the US in large quantities.

▲Regarding Japan's evaluation, I'll refrain from commenting.

▲LCD touch games where you add to the game. Personally, I kinda liked it.

While doing these tasks, I occasionally earned some pocket money by doing translations or filming interviews with foreigners, and that's how I created the glossary.

Pachinko and Pachislot Glossary?

Welcome back. As before, it's time for an English lesson!

Well, not really. Now, let's dig a little deeper into why pachinko-related articles couldn't be translated.

It's strange, isn't it? You'd think translating something like the rules of a pachinko parlor into English could be done quickly, right?

But it can't be. Why?

Because the translations weren't defined.

As mentioned before, to translate, you need to create a "glossary." This is especially apparent in the gaming industry, where you need to define translations for various terminologies and jargon.

For example, in a game, there's a spell called "Fireball" that throws a ball of fire.

How would you translate this?

Fireball (literal translation)
Fire Ball (somewhat split into two words)

But there are cases where these translations can't be used.

That's right, "when it's already used elsewhere, that translation can't be used."

So what do you do if there's a country in the game called "Fireball"? (Please no comments about the naming sense!)

Whether it's Fireball or Fire Ball, it would end up as something like "Long live the Fireball Principality!" So, you'd have to change the country's name or the English translation.

When multiple people try to translate this, you need to prevent a situation like "Which Fireball are you talking about???"

In such cases, you'd think, "Hmm, Inferno?? Orb??" and proceed like this.

▲I always thank you, ChatGPT

t really is a wonderful era we live in. In the past, it would have taken me half a day just to come up with this kind of pattern.

So, let me explain again using words that you are all familiar with.

Take "hazure" for example.

Can you translate it? ...Difficult? Then let's ask ChatGPT.

▲Ah, "non-winning" something or other, I see!

Well, in reality, it's a state where nothing has been won, so at first glance, it seems like the correct translation. Those with a bit of English knowledge might have thought of something like "failure on" something or other as a possibility.

But they're all wrong.

Why? Because both "non-winning" (not successful or awarded) and "failure" are expressions that are used far too frequently.

Huh? I get it if you're surprised. It's unthinkable that humanity should resist the conclusions drawn by AI.

But what we're missing here is the possibility of moments when we actually seek out a "hazure." For example, the "pure hazure" that was common during the fourth generation of machines (and some of the fifth). Is that really a "hazure"? For some models, it could actually mean a jackpot.

▲ in the original Yoshimune machine, a pure Hazure during a BIG bonus round adds three more BIG.

▲Or this is another good example. A series of "hazure" could lead to a bonus (ART) draw.

Still not getting it? Then how about "failed to win a prize for a non-winning combination'"?

Wouldn't you end up with something like a "non-winning non-winning combination" or "failure in getting failure in prize"?

...Considering such points, we need to define various terms so that we don't run into errors at some point.

Thanks to that, it took a tremendous amount of time, but the glossary has generally become usable. For now, I've managed to put a lid on the common phrases, separate from the machine-specific ones. The rest will be covered as we go along with the operation.

When I think about how I might still be in the middle of this if ChatGPT wasn't around, I'm amazed at how much time I've spent.

Here's the glossary stored here, so feel free to use it

Oh, you're asking for the English translation of "hazure"?

For now, "Hazure" is correct. In fact, there's no way to translate it, so it needs to be forcefully established as a wasei-eigo (Japanese-made English word), like "tsunami" or "karoshi," because there's no such concept overseas in the first place.

Like a direct hit in AT from a "pure hazure"! There's no such concept overseas, right!

So, the most troublesome part has been taken care of by yours truly. Now I'm just waiting for someone to use this and make a splash as an international pachislot YouTuber. Meanwhile, I'll spend my remaining years writing such articles, creating glossaries, and making English pamphlets for stores.

That's it for now. Until next time!

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We have organized a special tour to introduce pachinko, a traditional Japanese form of entertainment, to our foreign friends. On this tour, you will be accompanied by an instructor who is fluent in English and well-versed in pachinko, providing detailed guidance from the basics to advanced techniques. Pachinko, known for its bright lights and unique sounds, has been a beloved game in Japan for over 80 years. Although the tour is just two hours, it offers a wealth of knowledge about pachinko's history and how to play!