パチンコ天国, Traditional pachinko parlor in Nishi-Sugamo, Japan.
Pachinko Tengoku is a gaming parlor in the Nishi-Sugamo neighborhood housing rows of mechanical pinball machines in a tight interior layout. The space operates with minimal staff and retains its original simple, functional design from decades past.
The parlor opened in 1962 and shaped local gaming culture for many years. After a brief closure in 2008, it reopened with a smaller selection of machines than before.
The parlor preserves mechanical gaming machines from the Showa period, showing how Japanese people traditionally spent leisure time. Visitors encounter devices without electronic components that rarely exist elsewhere today.
Visitors need to exchange current banknotes for older currency denominations at the counter due to the aged transaction system. It helps to arrive with an open mind about the basic, no-frills setting and its simple operations.
The building contains a lived-in second floor marked by a satellite dish visible from the street, showing the human side of the location. Notably, the structure survived a major fire that destroyed its upper portion, yet the business resumed operations afterward.
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