"Customers play ""pachinko,"" a game sometimes referred to as Japanese pinball, at a pachinko parlor in Tokyo, Japan. Pachinko is a game unique to Japan, in which players first purchase small metal balls that are then inserted into the machine with the purpose of attempting to win more balls. Accumulated balls can be exchanged for prizes such as vouchers, tokens (usually small pieces of gold in plastic cases) or a range of goods. There is also a method of exchanging the winnings for cash, though this is illegal. Despite the fact that gambling is officially illegal in Japan, there are some 13,000 pachinko halls, known as ""pachinko parlors"", scattered throughout the country, mostly located near to main line railway stations, but some are found in the middle of the countryside, their neon signs lighting up the paddy fields near which they stand. Some of the larger ones host several hundred playing machines. There are also hundreds of pachinko magazines guiding readers the key to winning the game, and there are even those people who make a living from the game. Known as ""pachi-puro,"" or professional pachinko players, the best of these players can earn around 600,000 yen (US$6,000) per month from the game.  .."
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