Upper House Election Bribery Case: Desperation within Pachinko Industry Revealed

Editorial

13:59 JST, August 30, 2025

The pachinko industry, which is suffering a decline in market size, must have felt desperate. This could become one of the largest election violation cases in recent years. Police should thoroughly investigate the circumstances and motives.

In connection with the proportional representation segment of the House of Councillors election in July, a joint investigation headquarters including the Metropolitan Police Department has arrested six individuals, among whom is the president of pachinko parlor operator Derupara, on suspicion of violating the Public Offices Election Law for promising to pay for votes.

The six are suspected of conspiring with pachinko parlor managers and others to solicit votes for Yasuhisa Abe, the head of a pachinko industry association who was an officially endorsed Liberal Democratic Party candidate for the upper house election. The six promised employees ¥3,000 to ¥4,000 in cash in return.

The law prohibits not only giving money but also promising to pay money with the intent of electing a specific candidate.

Employees were told that if they photographed and sent an image of their ballot with Abe’s name written on it using their smartphones, they would be paid compensation under the guise of overtime pay. More than one manager reportedly told investigators that they had no choice but to follow company headquarters’ instructions.

If the six suspects effectively ordered many parlor managers and employees to engage in illegal voting, it is nothing short of appalling. This represents a significant undermining of elections, which should be fair.

The investigation headquarters believes over 250 employees were promised payments. Should employees also face charges, this could become the largest-scale crackdown in connection with a national election since the beginning of the Heisei era (1989-2019).

In recent years, the pachinko industry has seen a steady decline in customers. The number of parlors has fallen to 6,700, just one-third of its peak, and the number of players has halved from 11.5 million in 2014. This is largely due to restrictions on prize balls aimed at combating addiction and the diversification of entertainment options.

Amid these severe circumstances, the industry has resorted to influencing politics. In both the 2019 and 2022 upper house elections, the industry backed an LDP candidate. But both lost. Consequently, the industry nominated Abe, the director of one of its associations, as its first-ever candidate from within its ranks.

The industry likely aimed to achieve deregulation by directly sending its own representative to the Diet. The industry dubbed the July upper house election “the Battle of Sekigahara,” the decisive battle in 1600 that determined the fate of Japan. There likely was a sense of crisis in the industry that defeat would mean the end of the rope, and this sense presumably lead to the wrongdoing.

Undoubtedly, the LDP also had expectations for receiving votes from those connected to industry. At a rally for Abe in May, many LDP Diet members showed up to express support for him.

Abe garnered 88,368 votes but lost. In addition to the headwinds against the LDP, this was due to voters’ lack of acceptance of a candidate representing the interests of the pachinko industry. The LDP’s candidate selection process is also being questioned.

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Aug. 30, 2025)