Modern Games

- mechanical game originating in Japan and is used as both a form of recreational arcade game and much more frequently as a gambling device

- were originally strictly mechanical, but modern ones have incorporated extensive electronics, becoming similar to video slot machines.

- to capture as many balls as possible

- Pachinko parlors are widespread in Japan (pachislo or pachislots)

PACHINKO

The players sit in a circle and follow the leader, who taps his or her nose and says, "hana, hana, hana, kuchi", meaning, "nose, nose, nose, mouth."

The leader continues to repeat the words but taps another part of his or her body, such as an eye. The players must do what the leader says and not what he or she does. If a player fails to do this, she must be the leader or allow her cheek to be daubed with flour and water. The names of the features are: me--eye; mimi-ear; hana-nose; kuchi-mouth.

The games may also be played in teams, with each side trying to make the opposite team follow their captain's words and not his or her actions.

Hana, Hana, Hana, Kuchi

The one who is chosen to be "Oni", or"It", tries to tag a player. However, the tagged player must put one hand on the spot where "It" touched him or her, whether the back, the shoulder, the elbow, the knee, or other part of the body. With his or her hand on this spot, he or she must chase the other players. He or she is relieved of his position only when another player is tagged.When there are a large number of children, you may use more than one tagger.

Japanese Tag

Daruma is similar the game Red Light in the United States. Players line up about 30 feet from a wall and try to reach the wall. The player who is it faces the wall and says "Daruma falls down" and turns around. If he sees someone moving that person is captured and has to come to wall. The process is repeated. If one player touches the captured player the captured play is free. The game ends when all the players are captured and the first captured is it the next round.

The Japanese version of kick-the-can is called Kankai. Kids are divided into kickers and runners. One runner kicks the can out of the circle. After a tagger places the can back in the circle the tagger tries to catch the runners. If a runner is tagged he stand in the circle. If a runner can kick the can without being touched, he releases all the runners.

Playground Games in Japan

Dodge ball is very popular among children, The regional and national tournaments in the sport for primary school students. The player on one champion team from Kagoshima told the Yomiuri Shimbun, “I feel so good when I hit someone with the ball.”

-- Some attention was focused on the safety of playgrounds in the early 2000s after some children died playing a group swing. Afterwards a study showed that 75 percent of playgrounds have defects that could potentially cause accidents.

At one point Japan had approximately 100 commercial mazes, more than any country. Most Japanese mazes were made with 6½-foot wooden walls not hedges. They generally have about 2,000 yards of pathways and maze runners have to find four checkpoint, and get their cards stamped, before emerging from the end. The route of the maze can easily be changed by moving the walls and many maze owners change the walls once a week or so to lure back repeat customers.

Japanese mazes are much more difficult than their counterparts elsewhere in the world. It typically takes about 50 minutes to get out, but some people get lost for hours. A common joke describes a honeymooning couple that enters a maze and came out with two children.

"Most of the time, people in our society are deprived of the chance to make our own decisions...In a maze you can make your own decision and go for it."

Mazes in Japan

- Japanese companies such as Sega, Taito, Namco and Nintendo were producers of electro-mechanical arcade games. Soon after the video game industry began in the early 1970s, many of these companies turned their attention to producing arcade video games.

- Japan eventually became a major exporter of video games during the golden age of arcade video games, an era that began with the release of Taito's Space Invaders in 1978 and ended around the mid-1980s.

Video Gaming

PlayStation 2 – 21,833,215

(note: total Nintendo DS sales not provided)

Wii – 12,638,836

PSP – 19,453,023

Nintendo 3DS – 7,689,512

Nintendo 3DS XL – 2,090,372

PlayStation 3 – 8,860,082

PlayStation Vita – 1,130,820

Xbox 360 – 1,613,832

TOTAL Hardware sales to date (lifetime):