12 arrested while gambling in Kyoto

In reaction to this news, regular Japanese citizens shook thier collective heads in disapproval at these 12 gambling criminals for a few seconds before returning to thier unofficial national pastime of pachinko. Where 30 million Japanese this year alone have according to official figures donated a record amount of over 10 billion yen to everyones favorite dear leader in North Korea through Pyongyang-aligned parlors and crime syndicates. Nice work team, maybe next time we can send Prince Pickles to look into it.

 

He'll get up 'em. It leaves a bitter taste in my mouth, too, Jinkino...

 

Jinkino, I'd heard about some pachinko parlors funneling money to NK. Is there a way to distinguish one of these places from a good ol' red-blooded yakuza-owned parlor? If I'm going to play pachinko, I'd like the opportunity to choose the criminal organization I'm funding.

I don't live in Japan, so it's easy for me to address this issue with tongue in cheek. I've only played pachinko once, just kicked in 1,000 yen on a lark, and walked out with 54,000 yen. Wait, excuse me. I walked out with a 100-ml bottle of vitamin drink that tasted like cough syrup, and a handful of chips. I had to try, just to say I'd done it. That it worked out so well was icing on the cake.

 

Im sure if they were easily distinguishable they wouldn't be able to exist at all, but all the reports I've seen just quote what the Japanese intellegence agencies cooperating with the CIA find when they trace where North Korea's illigal cashflow is coming from, in Japan's case; gambling and drugs. I wouldn't be suprised if some Yakuza had some part in the funneling of money to NK aligned agents either (knowingly or not). Just so ridiculous that 12 J.people are arrested for formally gambling, while millions of Japanese pseudo-gamble at pachinko that drives billions of yen into the hands of the very man the government is trying so hard to demonize. Japan should take cue from China; if people are going to find a way to gamble regardless, at least legalize it and have the government reap the benifits instead of everyone who shouldn't (crime syndicates and foreign dictators).

 

I asked my family here in Okinawa, and quite a few of the new parlors are NK financed or "owned". It seems to be well known, but nothing is done, as I'm sure they pay enough to keep the government happy.

And it is crazy to arrest 12 people, as everyone that goes into a pachinko joint is gambling. Kind of like the token court cases for NHK.

ciao

 

Why would the ruling "Liberal Democrats" who have been in POWER for eternity want to change things now. Everyone is "PAID OFF", North Koreans, Yakuza have thngs their own way. Payoff, why change.
But, maybe if things did change, That is Pachinko Parlours and Yakuza were forced to pay their fair share of TAXES. Things might become a little easier here in Japan. Thereby giving the hard working folk a break.

 

You're a bit late on that one. The pachinko-North Korea ring existed but was dismantled a few years ago by the police, during the first (half) serious crackdown on yakuza after the bubble.

Now the pachinko system with the 'prizes to cash' trick is still afloat, but it is rumored that instead of NK, a liberal amount of money ending up in the police's pension fund helps make things run smoothly.

 

... was a foreigner. Kyoto, ... probably had a "Japanese only" sign at the door.