FACE / MEGAFACE

What FACE / MEGAFACE is

FACE / MEGAFACE is the name most people in Asia meet when they search for a Japanese amusement venue rather than a casino. It is a chain of amusement stores in Japan built around pachinko-style ball games and medal games. You buy balls or medals, play them on the machines, and then exchange what you hold for goods at the goods corner. That last point matters: the payout is in goods, not cash, which is what separates this kind of venue from a casino floor¹.

The branch with the most published visitor detail is Megaface 880 Hakata, the main store in the Hakata area of Fukuoka. That is the branch this page leans on for practical detail, because it is the one that publishes entry rules, membership steps and language support in a form a visitor can actually use¹.

If you are looking for table games, poker or a sports book, this is not that. FACE / MEGAFACE venues do not run table games, and there is no poker room or sports betting product attached to them. The games are the ball and medal machines, and the goods exchange is the end of the loop¹.

Entry rules: who can enter and what to bring

Entry is straightforward, and the main thing you need is proof of age. If you are not already a DASH-pay member, you can join on the day of your visit, and you will be asked to show ID that verifies your age¹. That is the whole gate: join, show ID, go in.

For overseas visitors, the published guidance is to bring your passport¹. A passport does the job of both age verification and identity, so if you are visiting from outside Japan it is the simplest document to carry. If you are a resident with a Japanese driver's license or residence card, that works too, since the requirement is ID that confirms your age.

Membership registration asks for your date of birth written in the Western calendar. The published instruction notes that leaving the box is acceptable, so you do not need to worry about fitting your details into a narrow form field¹.

There is no published general admission fee for FACE Group amusement venues. You pay for the balls or medals you play with, and the membership card is joined on the day at no published charge¹. If a branch charges anything extra for a particular seat or service, that would be branch specific, so ask at the counter.

What to bring, in order of usefulness:

1. Passport, if you are visiting from outside Japan¹
2. Japanese driver's license or residence card, if you live in Japan
3. A bag small enough for the free lockers, or plan to leave luggage at the counter¹

Games on offer

The games at FACE / MEGAFACE are the ball and medal machines you find in Japanese amusement venues. You play with balls or medals, and the machines are the product. There are no table games, no card room and no sports book at these venues¹.

The payout structure is the part visitors most often get wrong. Balls and medals can be exchanged for goods at the goods corner in the number you hold¹. That means the value you build up on the machines converts into items from the goods corner, not into cash at a cage. Treat the session as amusement spending rather than a cash game and the experience makes sense.

The membership card adds a practical layer. Because it allows mutual use of balls stored at different exchange rates across stores, a balance you build at one branch is not stranded there¹. If you are traveling around Japan and plan to visit more than one branch, joining once and keeping the card is the sensible move.

For anyone comparing this to a casino: the games here are not comparable to baccarat, roulette or poker. If table games are what you want, look at the casino pages for the region instead, such as casinos in Japan for the legal picture, or Maruhan and DYNAM for other Japanese amusement operators.

Location and how to get there

FACE Group runs branches in more than one city, so the answer to "where is it" depends on which store you mean. The branch with the fullest published visitor information is Megaface 880 Hakata, the main store in the Hakata district of Fukuoka¹. If you are in Fukuoka, that is the one to head for.

For other branches, the practical approach is the same as any chain store: find the branch page for the city you are in, note the address, and put it into a map app. FACE Group does not publish a single nationwide access route, so there is no one set of directions that covers every store.

If you are planning a trip that mixes this with other gambling and racing venues in Japan, it helps to know how the other operators handle access, because some publish very precise directions.

Those are different kinds of venue, but the pattern is the same: check the specific site before you travel. For a FACE / MEGAFACE branch, the address plus a map app is enough. The main store in Hakata is central enough that a taxi or a short train ride from Hakata Station will get you close, and the multilingual support at the counter means you can ask for directions in Korean if that is easier for you¹.

Opening hours and facilities

FACE Group does not publish a single set of opening hours covering every branch, so hours are a branch-by-branch matter. Check the branch page for the store you plan to visit on the day, since amusement venues in Japan often adjust hours by day of the week.

What the main store does publish is the facilities that matter to a visitor. Megaface 880 Hakata has free lockers and refrigerated lockers installed, and luggage that does not fit can be left at the counter¹. That is useful if you are coming straight from a station with a bag, or if you have shopping you do not want to carry onto the floor.

The store also has multilingual support using translation devices, with Korean inquiries supported¹. If your Japanese is limited, you can still ask about membership, the goods corner or the machines. That is a meaningful practical difference from smaller local venues that operate in Japanese only.

For comparison, other Japanese gambling and racing venues publish their hours in detail.

Those are separate operators, but they show how precisely Japanese venues tend to publish times, which is why a FACE branch page is worth checking rather than assuming.

Payments and currency

Everything at FACE / MEGAFACE runs in Japanese yen. You buy balls or medals, play them, and then exchange what you hold for goods at the goods corner¹. There is no published general admission fee, so your spending is the balls and medals you choose to buy.

The membership card is the payment-adjacent piece worth understanding. It is a mutual-use card, and it allows you to use balls stored at different exchange rates across stores¹. In plain terms, if you have a balance from one branch, the card lets you carry that value into another branch in the group rather than losing it. For a visitor moving between cities, that is the difference between a one-off visit and a card worth keeping.

The goods exchange is the other half of the payment picture. Balls and medals can be exchanged for goods at the goods corner in the number you hold¹. So the loop is:

1. Buy balls or medals.
2. Play the machines.
3. Take the count you hold to the goods corner.
4. Exchange it for goods.

There is no cash payout step in the published description, which is the key thing to understand before you sit down. If you are used to casino cages and cash chips, reset your expectations. This is an amusement venue with a goods exchange, and the membership card is the tool that keeps your balance usable across branches¹.

Rules for foreign visitors

Foreign visitors are welcome at FACE / MEGAFACE. The published guidance for overseas visitors is simply to bring your passport¹. That covers age verification and identity in one document, and it is the same document you would carry for any ID check in Japan.

The main store in Hakata goes further than most Japanese amusement venues on language. It has multilingual support using translation devices, and Korean inquiries are supported¹. If you are visiting from Korea, Taiwan or elsewhere in Asia and your Japanese is limited, you can still handle membership, the goods corner and basic questions at the counter.

This is a good moment to be clear about how Japan differs from its neighbors on casino access. In Korea, several casino floors are foreigners-only facilities, meaning local citizens are not allowed in.

Korea's regulator has pushed foreigner-only casinos to strengthen nationality screening and customer data management¹⁰. Japan's amusement venues like FACE / MEGAFACE work the other way: they are open to everyone, locals and visitors alike, and the ID check is about age rather than nationality¹.

If you want the wider picture on what is and is not allowed in Japan, the country guide at Can I Gamble in Japan? covers it, and Casinos in Japan: Who Can Go In explains who may enter the casino floors that do exist. For the resort that is planned but not yet open, see When Will the Osaka Casino Resort Open?.