FAQs - Pachinko Age, Make and Model
These FAQ pages will be continuously updated with questions and answers. If you have any corrections or additions, please let us know.
Determining Pachinko Machine Age
Where can I find the year of manufacture on the machines? You can't. The vintage machines were not stamped with a year of manufacture.
How can I tell how old my machine is? If your machine still has an expiration sticker, then you can use the table below to estimate the year of manufacture.
What is an expiration sticker? When pachinko machines were put into service, they were stamped with a sticker that has the date when the machine must be taken out of service. The time in service was probably 12 to 18 months.
Where is the sticker? It should be in one of the corners of the pachinko machine playfield. It may have fallen off or been taken off the machine. Below are some samples with an arrow pointing to the year.
Where is the year on the sticker? You may need a magnifying glass. On many stickers there will be lots of Japanese characters, then you will see two numbers some more Japanese characters, then one or two more numbers.
What do the numbers mean? The first two numbers are the Japanese year when the machine expires. The other number(s) is the month. See the chart below to translate this information into the Christian year of expiration and date of manufacture.
Conversion or Expiration Sticker to Year of Manufacture
| Japanese Year (expiration on sticker) |
Christian Year (add 1925 to Japanese Year) |
Year of Manufacture (subtract 1 year) |
|---|---|---|
| 55 | 1980 | 1979 |
| 54 | 1979 | 1978 |
| 53 | 1978 | 1977 |
| 52 | 1977 | 1976 |
| 51 | 1976 | 1975 |
| 50 | 1975 | 1974 |
| 49 | 1974 | 1973 |
| 48 | 1973 | 1972 |
| 47 | 1972 | 1971 |
| 46 | 1971 | 1970 |
| 45 | 1970 | 1969 |
Pachinko Machine Make and Model
Vintage pachinko machines were made by dozens of companies (Make) over the decades. These machines did not have specific models. Each machine was made in assembly line fashion and in order to create variety, various parts of the machine were combined. So while there were many machines with a particular laminated playfield design, the combination of parts on the playfield can vary.
Also we have seen where two machines where the laminated playfield and all the parts on it are exactly the same, but one machine is in a wood case and the other is in a case that has a white kitchen type laminate on it. Other items that can vary are the play tray door, overflow tray and all the mechanical parts of the machine.
Interestingly we have even seen where various parts on the playfield for one company are also being used by another company. It also appears that the companies were very efficient and no parts were wasted, so even as a new “model” design was being introduced, extra parts from prior models were used on the new models.
So all this means is that there is no definitive list of every pachinko machine produced with quantities and other statistical information. However, we are trying to accumulate photographs of as many machines as we can in our museum.