The pinball pastime known as pachinko reached its peak of popularity in 1995, when the industry raked in almost ¥30 trillion. Since then it's been all downhill, owing mainly to population shrinkage and the attendant loss of disposable income. However, the biggest blow to pachinko revenues came in 2007 with stricter regulations for slot machines (or "pachislot"), which were a little too much like gambling as far as the National Police Agency was concerned. This may be a matter of splitting hairs since standard pachinko is also a form of gambling that can be quite addictive, but in any case more and more pachinko parlors have gone out of business in the three years since. There are now about 12,600 parlors throughout Japan, 2,000 less than there were in 2007 and 30 percent less than there were in 1995.

Slot machines were more popular among younger pachinko enthusiasts, and rather than try to reclaim what will likely be a dwindling demographic, the industry has gone in the opposite direction. Since 2008 pachinko parlors have targeted the elderly, with surprising success. Between 2000 and 2008, the number of pachinko users over the age of 60 grew from about 2 million to 3 million; but in the subsequent two years the number jumped to 4.3 million.