Pachinko in Taiwan - (パチンコ)

Pachinko (パチンコ) is a Japanese-designed gaming device used for amusement and gambling in Taiwan.

A pachinko machine resembles a vertical pinball machine, but with no flippers and a large number of relatively small balls. The player fires a ball up into the machine, controlling only its initial speed. The ball then cascades down through a dense forest of pins. In most cases, the ball falls to the bottom and is lost, but if it instead goes into certain pockets, more balls are released as a jackpot. Pachinko machines were originally strictly mechanical, but modern ones have incorporated extensive electronics, becoming similar to video slot machines.

The machines are set up  in establishments in Taiwan called "pachinko parlors", which also often feature a number of slot machines. Pachinko parlors share the reputation of slot machine dens and casinos the world over — garish decoration; over-the-top architecture; a low-hanging haze of cigarette smoke; ''the constant din'' of the machines, music, and announcements; and flashing lights. Modern pachinko machines are highly customizable, keeping enthusiasts continuously entertained.

Because gambling for cash is illegal in Taiwan, balls won cannot be exchanged directly for cash in the parlor. Instead, the balls are exchanged for token prizes, which can then be taken outside and traded in for cash at a business that is nominally separate from the parlor, and are run by gangsters as a side business to loan sharking, prostitution services and underground gambling dens.

Police turn a blind eye, apparently, as the pachinko parlors in Taiwan operate in broad daylight -- and all night long, too, 24/7 -- on main throughfares and city streets. They are clean inside, and look like Las Vegas
hotel lobbies, shiny lights and all.