Year: 1966
Company: カトウ (Kato) & 日本自動販売機 (Nihon Jidô Hanbaiki)
Sugoroku Game is a smartball-style game that had at least 3 art variations over the nearly decade it was sold. The earliest year I've seen it mentioned is 1966, though it was one of the early Kato games so it might have been made as early as 1965. As we will see, it will eventually be primarily be advertised as a Nihon Jidô Hanbaiki game.
In an interview in Amusement Journal, Sugoroku Game is listed as one of the games made by Kato.
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| Amusement Journal 2015-11 |
In the 1969 machine directory we see both Kato and Nihon Jidô Hanbaiki list Sugoroku Game:
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| 1969 machine directory: Kato company information shows Sugoroku Game |
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| 1969 machine directory: Nihon Jidô Hanbaiki lists Sugoroku Game |
But when we get to the 1972 machine directory, it's now solely listed by Nihon Jidô Hanbaiki.
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| 1972 machine directory shows Sugoroku Game under 日本自動販売機 (Nihon Jidô Hanbaiki) |
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| 1972 machine directory index also lists Sugoroku Game under 日本自動販売機 (Nihon Jidô Hanbaiki) |
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| 1972 machine directory: Kato company listing does not say Sugoroku Game. |
This advertisement from 1970 by 日本自動販売機 (Nihon Jidô Hanbaiki) includes ニュー スゴロク (New Sugoroku), but nowhere else have I found the usage of "New Sugoroku". Since there are 3 different art packages, one of them is probably the "new" one.
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| AJAP 1970-05 |
I believe the first iteration of Sugoroku Game is this one that appears in the 1966 Senyo Kogyo catalogue. It has a cartoon car illustration.
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| this version existed in 1966. |
Next there is a Sankyo Kogyo (unrelated to Sankyo the game maker) catalogue from what appears to be 1968 that has this version with the circles on the cabinet and the more dynamic backglass.
You can spot this model in this tiny photograph, just before the pachinko.
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| from a hotel flyer |
The version that is in the 1969 and 1972 machine directories has the man holding a sign pole. The cabinet design is exactly like the model in the 1966 catalogue.
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| is this the "New Sugoroku" machine? |
You can see this machine, though mostly blocked by the man in the forefront, in this photograph
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| via yomogi2017 |
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