Suishin Kiko completes first round of on-site inspections of all pachinko parlors

A third-party body completed on-site inspections of all pachinko parlors nationwide by the end of September 2024, according to the Japanese government's revised basic plan for gambling addiction measures, dated March 21, 2025. The inspections were carried out by the third-party organization, the General Incorporated Association Amusement Industry Soundness Promotion Organization, under the addiction prevention measures of the pachinko industry¹.

The plan states that a second round of inspections, which began in October 2024, is being carried out with the results compared against the first round.

The document sets out the pachinko measures under the Police Agency¹, including:

• improved operation and wider publicity for self-declaration and family-declaration access restriction programs
• age verification by identity document for customers entering a parlor
• removal of ATMs and similar machines from pachinko premises
• the introduction of machines that let players easily check payout information

The plan also covers the strengthening of the consultation system at the Recovery Support Network (RSN), support for private groups including self-help groups, and the use of "Anshin Pachinko Pachislot Advisors" to reinforce addiction prevention measures¹.

The revised plan reports that 43 prefectures had drawn up their own regional gambling addiction promotion plans as of the end of September 2024¹. It also cites a survey by the National Hospital Organization Kurihama Medical and Addiction Center, which estimated the share of adults suspected of gambling disorder at 1.7 percent, adding that there was no statistically significant difference from the estimate in the previous survey¹.

The same survey found that internet purchases accounted for more than half of public racing betting, and that respondents suspected of gambling disorder were more likely than others to say their use of internet gambling had increased compared with before the spread of COVID-19¹.

What it means for players

The inspections are checks on operators, not on customers. They cover whether pachinko halls are following the industry's addiction prevention rules, including the self-declaration and family-declaration programs that let a person or a relative ask to be barred from a hall, and age checks at the door¹.

For anyone playing in Japan, the practical points in the plan are the measures aimed at the hall floor: ATMs and similar machines are to be removed from pachinko premises, and machines that make payout information easy to check are to be introduced¹. The plan also lists the RSN consultation service as a contact point for pachinko-related dependency problems¹.

The plan does not set out any change to the legal status of pachinko, to stakes or to payouts. It does not report any penalties imposed on individual halls as a result of the first round of inspections.

What happens next

The second round of addiction prevention inspections has been running since October 2024, and the plan says the results will be compared with those of the first round¹. The basic plan itself is reviewed at least every three years and must be changed when the government judges it necessary¹.