Japanese gamblers flock to pachinko parlours, undermining coronavirus restrictions

Lines outside Tokyo’s pachinko parlours show the limits of Japan’s ability to enforce social distancing, just as the country heads into a series of holidays that could be key to its attempts to control the spread of the coronavirus.Pachinko, a US$192 billion industry that lures gamblers with pinball-like machines, has come under scrutiny since Prime Minister Shinzo Abe declared a state of emergency in Tokyo and six other prefectures two weeks ago. As virus cases continued to climb in the…

from South China Morning Post https://bit.ly/3cEFRsZ