Week 42: P-2

PEACE PARK, Hiroshima. It's pretty remarkable that not even a year had passed since the atom bomb fell on Hiroshima when they were making plans for a community space dedicated to world peace. The Peace Park (of which I have no photos because it was POURING rain) and the peace museum are designed for learning, reflecting, and acting on the prospects of peace. 140,000 lives were lost in the bombing of Hiroshima and most of the buildings were vaporized. This is one of the few shells that remained standing.

 

 PACHINKO.  Now, a place where peace does not reign -- a PACHINKO PARLOR. Pachinko was created in Nagoya, so it is only right that we visited one of these famous gambling gaming locations. Gambling, of course, is illegal in Japan, so there is no gambling involved. In fact, I'm sure that the winners take their tokens and decorate their homes with them. They don't go to a secret location down the block and get a cash payout.

[In this photo: pretending that we understand the manager.] We went to a PACHINKO PARLOR last night, and it is now my most favorite game! I'm sure that we had beginner's luck, but a $10 pay-in left us with a $5 payout in cash, plus $9 in merhandise (which in the stores here would have cost at least $15). And how great will it be using the Pachinko toilet paper and shampoo?