When Hillary was visiting in November and we went to Enoshima, we came across an old pachinko parlor. Most of the pachinko places in Japan are huge casino-like establishments, but this tiny little place was so cute. I had to stop and take a picture because this pachinko machine reminded me exactly of the one that my brothers and I used to play on in my grandparents basement. We used to pour a big tub of steel balls in the top and then play for hours. I don't even remember how the game works, we just used to hit the lever until we won more steel balls. I wonder what happened to that machine?
Update: I got an email from my Grandma and this is what she said:
We read your blog this morning and thought I would tell you about the Pachinko game. When we were getting rid of things before we moved to NC, Jeff took it. It is in his basement in CO.
When Cindy's boyfriend, Mark, was in the Navy in Japan, he bought one for us. Grandpa says he took some of the pins out so that it was easier for you kids to win the balls. He says that in Japan they buy the balls to play the game. Then they try to win more balls. It was a fun game for you all to play, but you didn't win any money.
