Mini Loto

What Mini Loto is and how the game works

Mini Loto (ミニロト) is a number-selection lottery, the smallest of Japan's main "Loto" family. You choose 5 different numbers from 31, running from 1 to 31, and buy an entry. At the draw, 5 main numbers and 1 bonus number are selected, and your prize tier depends on how many of your numbers match them¹.

Mini Loto can be purchased all year round in principle, so there is no season or campaign window to worry about¹. Prize amounts are not fixed: they vary with each draw's total sales and the number of winning entries, so a 1st prize shared by several winners pays less per entry than one held by a single ticket¹.

One rule worth knowing before you play: duplicate wins across prize tiers are not allowed, and the higher tier takes priority. A ticket that matches enough numbers to qualify for two tiers only gets the better one¹.

How to fill in a card: numbers, quick pick and bet types

At a counter outlet, you fill in a paper card. You mark 5 different numbers from 1 to 31. If you cannot decide, choose "Quick Pick" (クイックピック) and the computer automatically selects the 5 numbers for you¹.

The card is flexible in ways that save time if you play regularly:

• Up to 5 different number selections on a single card¹
• "Bulk buying" (まとめ買い) of up to 10 entries at once¹
• "Continuous buying" (継続買い) that covers up to 5 draws ahead, so you can enter the next five Tuesdays in one visit¹

So a serious player could walk in once, put several sets of numbers on one card, and be covered for over a month of draws. A casual player marks one line, pays, and is done.

Prizes: what each tier pays

Mini Loto has four prize tiers. Which tier you land in depends on how many of the 5 drawn main numbers, and the 1 bonus number, match your chosen numbers¹:

The 1st prize figure of about JPY 10,000,000 is a theoretical value, not a promise. Because prize amounts move with each draw's total sales and the number of winning entries, the actual payout can be higher or lower¹. The lower tiers work the same way: a 4th prize won by a huge number of players in a popular-draw week pays less per entry than usual.

If you want to compare across the family, Loto 7 draws 7 main numbers and 2 bonus numbers, and its bonus numbers are used only to decide 2nd and 6th prize³. Mini Loto keeps things simpler with a single bonus number and a single job for it.

The bonus number: how 2nd prize is decided

Every Mini Loto draw produces 5 main numbers and 1 extra number called the bonus number (ボーナス数字). The bonus number is used only to determine 2nd prize¹.

In practice this means the near-miss tickets get their own tier. If you match 4 of the 5 main numbers, you are in 3rd prize. But if your 5th number happens to be the bonus number, you are bumped up to 2nd instead. It is a small consolation structure that rewards being one number away from the jackpot, and it is the only thing the bonus number does in this game.

Your chances of hitting the jackpot

The odds of matching all 5 main numbers in Mini Loto are 1 in 169,911. That is the best jackpot odds among Japan's main numbers lotteries, and it comes directly from the small pool: choosing 5 numbers from 31 gives far fewer possible combinations than LOTO6's 6 from 43 or Loto 7's 7 from 37.

The trade-off is the prize size. A theoretical 1st prize of about JPY 10,000,000² is modest next to what the bigger games can produce, and the per-entry cap (covered next) keeps it that way. Many players treat Mini Loto as the frequent, low-stakes option in the lineup and move to LOTO6 or Loto 7 when they want to chase a bigger top prize.

The JPY 40,000,000 cap and what happens with no winners

Mini Loto's prize per entry is capped at JPY 40,000,000 at most¹. Whatever happens with sales or the number of winners, no single entry can pay more than that. This is the structural difference from the bigger Loto games: Mini Loto is built for regular small-to-mid prizes rather than headline jackpots.

If there are no winners in any prize tier at all, a redraw is held¹. So a tier is never simply left unclaimed; the numbers are drawn again until someone holds a winning entry.

Draw schedule and where the draw takes place

The Mini Loto draw is held every Tuesday, starting at 18:45 in principle, at the Tokyo Takarakuji Dream Hall, excluding the New Year period¹. The draw uses a dedicated Loto drawing machine, an electric stirring centrifugal-type machine nicknamed "Yume Loto-kun" (夢ロトくん)¹.

Tuesday is Mini Loto's day in the weekly rhythm of Japanese numbers lotteries. LOTO6 draws on Monday and Thursday⁴, Loto 7 on Friday⁵, so a player following all three gets a draw almost every weekday. The Tokyo Takarakuji Dream Hall is the regular venue for these draws, and the same hall hosts draws for the other numbers games too.

Where and when to buy tickets

You can buy Mini Loto at numbers-selection lottery outlets, on the internet, or at the ATMs of some banks¹. Counter outlets handling numbers-selection lotteries are open 8:00 to 20:00, excluding the New Year period, and on draw day (Tuesday) sales stop earlier, at 18:30¹. That 18:30 cutoff gives the outlet time to close sales before the 18:45 draw.

Internet buying has its own timing quirks. Purchases made from 18:20 to 8:00 the next day on a draw day (or from 19:50 to 8:00 the next day on a non-draw day) are shown as "issuance reserved" and change to "waiting for draw" after 8:00 the next morning⁶. In other words, a late-night online entry is not lost; it just rolls into the next processing window.

Online sales of the Loto games began in January 2016⁷, so internet buying is a well-established channel rather than a recent addition. If you are new to Japan's lottery scene generally, the Gambling in Japan overview puts the lottery alongside the country's other legal gambling options.

Claiming winnings: payment period and rounding rules

How you collect depends on where you bought the ticket.

For online purchases, prizes of JPY 10,000 or more are in principle transferred automatically to your registered payout account within about one week from the next business day after the draw. Prizes under JPY 10,000 are in principle reflected on your My Page as held winnings on the next business day after the draw day, and if your held winnings under JPY 10,000 add up to more than JPY 10,000 during a period, that total is transferred automatically within about a week⁸.

For tickets bought at a shop, winnings are not transferred automatically, so you need to check the collection method and claim yourself. Winnings of JPY 100,000 or less can be collected in cash on the spot at credit unions handling sports lottery, at lottery shops that allow refunds, and at 7-Eleven¹⁰.

Mini Loto also has a rounding rule: fractions under JPY 100 are rounded down when prizes are calculated¹. With prize amounts varying by draw, this keeps payouts to clean amounts.

A practical note for visitors: the online channel requires a registered account with a Japanese payout bank account, so most short-term visitors will find the counter outlet route the simplest. The outlets are ordinary lottery counters found in stations, shopping streets, and dedicated lottery kiosks, and buying is as simple as handing over a filled-in card.