Editing Pachinko (section)

== Regulations ==

=== Smoking ===
Smoking is allowed in pachinko parlors, although there are discussions in Japan to extend public [[smoking ban]]s to them.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://archive.metropolis.co.jp/tokyo/635/feature.asp | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060711140004/http://metropolis.japantoday.com/tokyo/635/feature.asp| archive-date = 11 July 2006| title = A dying breed: Japan's smokers are feeling the heat as the government slowly tackles tobacco| access-date = 12 September 2006| last = Shores| first = Trey| date = 26 May 2006| publisher = Metropolis}}</ref>

=== Crime ===
[[File:Antipachinkodemonstration-tokyojapan-2013.jpg|thumb|An anti-pachinko demonstration in Tokyo, Japan (2013)]]

[[Gambling in Japan|Gambling is illegal in Japan]], but pachinko is regarded as an exception and treated as an amusement activity.<ref>{{cite news|last=Master |first=Farah |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-japan-casino-pachinko-idUSBREA4B0V320140512 |title=Taxing times for pachinko as Japan considers casino gamble |work=Reuters |date=12 May 2014 |access-date=24 June 2014}}</ref> Although awarding direct money prizes for it is illegal, parlors may reward players with tokens which can then be sold for cash at nearby exchange centers. With growing public and political pressure in recent years, since passage of Japan's blanket anti-gambling law in the 1990s, police are more active in regulating parlors.<ref name="Plotz" /> 

Retired police officers often work in the pachinko industry; critics have pointed out that while this has had a deterrent effect against organized crime, it also means these operators are in a strong position to influence police officers in their favor.<ref name="Plotz" />

Police tolerate the level of gambling in pachinko parlors. For example, in May 2005, a parlor in [[Kanagawa Prefecture]] reported to the local police that someone had counterfeited their tokens and made off with the equivalent of US$60,000 in cash by trading them in at their nearby exchange center. Even with such information proving that this parlor was illegally operating an exchange center, which by law must be independent of the parlor, the police did not shut them down, but tracked down the thief.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.hkgem.com/reports/prelist/Documents/EDynam-20120706-15.pdf| title = Fraud Investigation: Pachinko parlor}}</ref>

=== Ball designs ===
It is forbidden for pachinko balls to be removed from a parlor to be used elsewhere. To help prevent this, many parlors have a design or name engraved on each of their balls, inspiring some people to collect pachinko balls with various designs.{{citation needed|date=August 2016}}