Money down the drain!

Just like the casinos in South Dakota, one thing you can find on almost every corner in Japan is a pachinko parlor. Pachinko is a strange game that is a form of gambling. It is hard to explain how to play other than you are trying to get a lot of the little metal balls. You play by adjusting the pressure at which the balls shoot up into the machine. The goal is to get them into these little baskets so the goal is to find the right pressure at which they shoot up. If you do, you get more. some people are really good (sitting with boxes of these little metal balls) and then there are people like me who suck! Pachinko parlors are not a very plesant place to hang out. They are really smokey and so nosiy!
Chigusa and Martin took us in and Chigusa, Jon and I each played on a machine. Jon said he wasn't going to play at first but then said he would because he could do better than us. Chigusa and I lost our 1000 Yen in about fifteen minutes. Jon did do better than us...I think his 1000 Yen lasted about twenty! It was a lot of fun to try but now, I don't ever have to play again!


Woohoo! 1000 Yen down the drain!!


Jon concentrating hard...trying to win the big Yen!