The only information we have on this machine comes from 遊技通信でみるパチンコ業界の60年 (60 Years Of The Pachinko Industry) published by industry staple Yugi Tsushinsha.
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| 遊技通信でみるパチンコ業界の60年 (60 Years Of The Pachinko Industry) |
If you have any more information on this machine (or really any info on machines from before 1970!!) please get in touch.
top-left caption OCR:
昭和33年、銀座6丁目並木通りに開店したラッキーゲームの店。事実上の和製スロットの第1号だが、日本におけるスロット関係は歴史が一度断絶しているので、昭和39年が初登場という認識を持つ人が多い。銀座という土地柄かそれともスロットのせいか、パチンコとは感じが違う。玉(コイン)売娘もちょっと雰囲気が違う。
machine translation:
Lucky Game opened in 1958 on Namiki Street in Ginza 6-chome. It is effectively the first Japanese-made slot machine, but because the history of slot machines in Japan was interrupted at one point, many people believe that the first one appeared in 1964. Perhaps it is the atmosphere of Ginza, or perhaps it is because it is a slot machine, but it has a different feel from pachinko. Even the girls selling the balls (coins) have a slightly different atmosphere.
bottom text OCR:
和製スロットマシンの開発は欧米のスロットにはない「技術介入性」をどう取り組むかが焦点になった。その第1弾の試みが世に出たのは、 実に古い話で昭和33年の夏、40年以上前に遡る。写真にある通り「ラッキーゲーム」という、あまりにも直接的な名称で都内銀座に登場した。 この和製スロットの第1号を製作したのは、自動車パーツ工場だったという大東製作所。開発と警視庁の許可取りに2年6ヵ月も要したというから、連発禁止で業界が大打撃を受けた頃に着想を得たことになる。警視庁の指導は、とにか <欧米型スロットマシンは「遊技場」には設置できない、なぜなら技術介入性がないからだ･･･というものだが、これを受けた同社ではその技術介入性のためにリールを止めるストップボタンを取り付けた。同機の前身に「フレッドマシン」というのがあり、これは第1・第2リールはストップボタンで停止するが、第3リールを偶然性に頼ったために門前払い。しかし、第3リールにもストップボタンを取り付けると目押しで出されてしまうので･･･と、この複雑化の試行錯誤を重ねたという。図柄は和製スロットならではの十二支を採用。結局、第1リールは勝手に止まるが、 必ず何かしらの干支の図柄が出て、第2・第3リールにストップボタンを取り付けて再度持ち込んだ。和製スロットを正式に許可取りに来る会社なんて初めてのことなので、警視庁もかなり苦慮したようで、ゲーム1回が15秒以上かかること、ゲーム料金は1回20円以下であることなどの条件を付けてこれを許可。早速、銀座に導入され、続いて渋谷のアメリカ人経営の店に導入された。最初は物珍しさも手伝って高い稼動をみせたが、貸メダル単価が高く、それに相反して出率が低かったこともあってすぐに稼動はダウン。機械本体の価格が1台10万円以上で、当時のパチンコ機の20倍近かったこともあって導入は遅々として進まず、和製スロットの歴史はここで一度断絶する。そのため、昭和39年に登場したオリンピアマシンが和製スロットの第1号として扱われる誤解が生じてしまった。ともあれ、この「ラッキーゲーム」が本誌が確認した和製スロットマシンの第1号。が、実を言うと戦前にも持ち込まれたスロットマシンがあり、それを模倣して製作していた日本のメーカーがあったという話も残っている。ただし、これはどうにも確認できていないので「正史」にはできない。また、戦後(昭和27年)では、進駐軍用とはまた別に「もぐり営業」で設置していたところが都内にいくつかあったが(やはり場所は銀座なのだが)、これは当然のこと本場モノのマシンで、警視庁による手厳しい摘発を受けている。
パチンコ島に入るサイズにした上、今に続くパチスロという言葉を最初に使ったのは尚球社の「パチスロ・パルサー」。パルサ一は、関係者が機種名を考えている時にふと窓の外を見たら、同名の自動車が走っていたので、そのまま名付けたのだという。
bottom text machine translation:
The development of Japanese-made slot machines focused on how to address the "skill-based gameplay" aspect that was absent in Western slot machines. The first attempt to create such a machine appeared in the summer of 1958, more than 40 years ago. As the photo shows, it appeared in Ginza, Tokyo, under the very direct name of "Lucky Game." The first Japanese-made slot machine was manufactured by Daito Seisakusho, which was originally an automobile parts factory. It took 2 years and 6 months to develop the machine and obtain permission from the Metropolitan Police Department, suggesting that the idea came about when the industry was hit hard by the ban on repeated releases. The Metropolitan Police Department's guidance was that Western-style slot machines could not be installed in "amusement parlors" because they lacked the skill-based gameplay aspect. In response, the company installed stop buttons to stop the reels in order to provide that skill-based gameplay. A predecessor to this machine was the "Fred Machine," which had stop buttons for the first and second reels, but relied on chance for the third reel, so it was rejected outright. However, they went through a lot of trial and error to make it more complex, as adding a stop button to the third reel would allow players to time their button presses to get the winning combination. The symbols used were the twelve zodiac animals, unique to Japanese slot machines. In the end, the first reel stopped automatically, but always displayed some zodiac symbol, and they added stop buttons to the second and third reels and brought it back again. It was the first time a company had come to formally request permission for a Japanese-made slot machine, so the Metropolitan Police Department had a hard time deciding, and they granted permission with conditions such as each game taking more than 15 seconds and the game fee being 20 yen or less per game. It was immediately introduced in Ginza, followed by an American-owned store in Shibuya. At first, it was popular due to its novelty, but the high price per token and the low payout rate quickly led to a decline in popularity. The price of the machine itself was over 100,000 yen, nearly 20 times the price of a pachinko machine at the time, so its introduction was slow, and the history of Japanese-made slot machines came to a temporary halt. Therefore, a misunderstanding arose that the Olympia machine, which appeared in 1964, was the first Japanese-made slot machine. Nevertheless, this "Lucky Game" is the first Japanese-made slot machine confirmed by this magazine. However, in reality, there are stories of slot machines being brought in before the war, and of Japanese manufacturers imitating them. However, this cannot be confirmed, so it cannot be considered "official history." Furthermore, after the war (1952), there were several places in Tokyo (also in Ginza) that were operating illegally, separate from those for the occupying forces. These were, of course, genuine machines and were subjected to harsh crackdowns by the Metropolitan Police Department.
The first machine to fit into a pachinko parlor and to use the term "pachislo," which continues to this day, was the "Pachislo Pulsar" by Shokyu-sha. The name "Pulsar" was apparently chosen when someone involved in the production happened to look out the window while thinking of a name for the machine and saw a car with the same name driving by, so they simply named it that.
This is one of the earliest slot machines in Japan.
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| are these Stop buttons? |
Above the reels, below the logo, there appears to be two buttons. Are these the stop buttons? It is hard for me to say with the quality of the photographs. The text mentions that the early version only had 2 stop buttons, but needed to be changed to 3 buttons to receive permission. Is the machine in the photograph the 2 button version?
Perhaps the knob/button on the bottom-left acts as a stop button as well? There seems to be differences between the models in the 2 photographs.
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| on the left machine it looks almost like a button, on the right it looks like a button or handle |
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| on these machines we see a more pronounced handle on the machine's bottom-left |
One thing I can say with confidence is that these machines are based on a German machine called 'Helo'. My suspicion is that they were imported and modified, similar to how in the 1970s many Germany machines were imported and modified. Some were superficially modified to accept yen coins, but many had more extravagant revamps.
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| 1955 Helo by Herbert Loeper of Berlin |
I love that they even kept the same font! The proportions are the same, the framed game area is similar (except Helo has a small button at the top of the frame we do not see on Lucky,) and the payout cup is identical.
The knob on the German machine (Drehen means 'turn') is a handle on Lucky. After you insert a coin you turn the knob to start the reels spinning.
Lucky has the two buttons above the game area and a knob/button in the lower-left corner. On the German machine, pressing the button spins the 2nd reel again. In Japan it appears they modified this gameplay feature to stop the reel, not to spin it again.
This is speculation; I think the button in the bottom corner might be the third stop button.
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| side-by-side comparison 1955 Helo [Berlin, Germany] 1958 Lucky [Ginza, Tokyo, Japan] |
I do not know all of the differences but in 1955 there was also the 'Helo Elite' model. The score card lists more payout combinations, and the game uses numbers instead of pictures.
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| 1955 Helo by Herbert Loeper of Berlin |
The text said that Lucky took 2.5 years to develop. This suggests that they had been working on it since 1955, when Helo was released.
User PaulBohlmann had uploaded some video of the Helo Elite:
If anyone has access to the Metropolitan Police Department records in Ginza, Tokyo, please see if you can find any information on the approvals process for this machine. There might not be many more clues to go on.
The following photos of Helo Elite were provided by Tonmaster on automateum.de
フレッドマシン (Fred Machine)
I would like to know more about this "Fred Machine". Does anyone have further insight into what it was?
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| フレッドマシン (Fred Machine) [MENTION ONLY] by 大東製作所 (Daito Seisakusho) |
