Year: ~1972
Company: 日本娯楽機 (Nihon Gorakuki) & 日本展望娯楽社 (Nihon Tenbo) [presumed]
I would like to argue that these machines from 日本娯楽機 (Nihon Gorakuki) were probably built in collaboration with 日本展望娯楽社 (Nihon Tenbo Entertainment Company) as well. Given the machine timeline we have currently assembled, I think it was one of the last machines built by 日本展望娯楽社 (Nihon Tenbo), or at least utilized their remaining parts.
There are two versions of this game, though they have many overlapping parts and artwork. I will explain the differences below.
First, I would like to express my gratitude to thank 日本ゲーム博物館H澤店長 / @naosunjer for preserving a copy of this machine, and generously sharing so much about it with the world. Nazox2016 has written about this machine as well.
These machines could not exist prior to 1971 as it references characters and images from 帰ってきたウルトラマン / Return of Ultraman, like Ultraman Jack, and the MAT logo (Monster Attack Team). I have not found any advertisements for these machines, but if they came out in 1971, we have very little material from that year to research from.
There are many things to discuss, so let's get started.
Establishing some background on 日本娯楽機 (Nihon Gorakuki)
日本娯楽機製作所 (Japan Amusement Machine Manufacturing) was one of the first amusement machine manufacturing companies in Japan, publishing a famous catalogue around 1937. (see the Research Notes page for more details on that.) At first I did not think they were connected, but if we look at the company information for 日本娯楽機 (Nihon Gorakuki) from 1974, the representative is none other than amusement machine legend 遠藤嘉一 (Kaichi Endo)!
We do not see 日本娯楽機 (Nihon Gorakuki) in the back of the machine directories until 1974/75, where they are listed as making amusement vehicles.
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| 1974/1975 machine directory |
Transcription:
日本娯楽機 株式会社
代表者遠藤嘉一
所在地 東京都港区青山2-22-4 〒107
TEL 03(402) 7311~3
資本金 3,800万円
主な取引銀行 第一勧業(青山)・協和(赤坂)・太陽神戸(赤坂)
主な取引先 後楽園、松屋、東急百貨店、エスエス製薬他
営業種目 電動娯楽乗物機械の製造・販売。
Machine translation:
Nippon Entertainment Machine Co., Ltd.
Representative Yoshikazu Endo
Address: 2-22-4 Aoyama, Minato-ku, Tokyo 107
TEL 03(402) 7311~3
Capital 38 million yen
Main banks Daiichi Kangyo (Aoyama), Kyowa (Akasaka), Taiyo Kobe (Akasaka)
Main clients: Korakuen, Matsuya, Tokyu Department Store, SS Pharmaceutical, etc.
Business Line: Manufacture and sale of electric entertainment vehicle machines.
An advertisement for the 1972 game Ultraman Ace has even more proof that they are the same company. Beneath the Nihon Gorakuki logo "NGK" it says 創業50年 (50 years in business).
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| this is from an advertisement for 1972 ウルトラマンエース [Go! Go! ウルトラマンエ] (Ultraman Ace) by 日本娯楽機 (Nihon Gorakuki) & 三共 (Sankyo) |
We had not seen much of Nihon Gorakuki in the interim years. I hope to learn more about what happened to them, and Kaichi Endo, through the 50s through 70s. One major achievement of NGK appears to be their licensing.
While Ultraman Ace is listed as by Sankyo, I presume the NGK partnership is about licensing the Ultraman characters.
We see a number of rides and vending machines made by NGK in the 74/75 machine directory.
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| 1974/75 machine directory: machines listed as by 日本娯楽機 (Nihon Gorakuki) |
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| 1974/75 machine directory: machines listed as by 日本娯楽機 (Nihon Gorakuki) |
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| 1974/75 machine directory: machines listed as by 日本娯楽機 (Nihon Gorakuki) |
Side note: those vending machines are pretty legendary. That links to 北原コレクションチャンネル and they also own another:
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| via 北原照久 facebook |
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| via 岐阜レトロミュージアム |
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| 1976 machine directory |
In the late 1970s we see some larger advertisements from 日本娯楽機 (Nihon Gorakuki)
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| 日本娯楽機 (Nihon Gorakuki) advertisement from the 1978 machine directory |
And in the 1978 directory their company information has not changed much either, except with a fresh location added:
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| 1978 machine directory |
The 1978 machine directory has an additional address and phone number, this one in Matsudo City phone # 0473 (41) 1281 and that matches the NGK sticker on the front of Ultra Attack. I have not seen this phone # or city referenced in other NGK flyers, but it does also appear in the 1979 and 1980 machine directories.
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| sticker on the front of Ultra Attack with 日本娯楽機 (Nihon Gorakuki) contact information via IPDB |
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| 日本娯楽機 (Nihon Gorakuki) information from the 1979 machine directory |
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| 日本娯楽機 (Nihon Gorakuki) information from the 1980 machine directory |
This raises the question: Was Ultra Attack built in the late 1970s? The theme means it had to be 1971 or later. But until we can find an advertisement or other clues, there is little else to confirm when it actually came out.
There is no greater researcher of eremeka than Onitama-san. He released this video where he places the year "around 1972", so for the time being, I will stick with "~1972". My guess is that the sticker with the newer Nihon Gorakuki address was applied at a later time.
The presumed 日本展望娯楽社 (Nihon Tenbo) connection
We have records of Nihon Tenbo machines existing from at least 1967, and up until 1972. There are mentions of 東急商事株式會社 (Tokyo Corporation) alongside some games, but they were acting as a distributor.
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| 日本娯楽機 (Nihon Gorakuki) use the "nt" logo on some machines. This is taken from the 1969 machine directory. |
本社・工場: 東京都練馬区早宮1-32-4 TEL991-4579(大代表)
大阪支店: 大阪市南区河原町1-1519 TEL大阪06(641)6074
第二工場: 東京都練馬区早宮1-49-3
埼玉営業所: 埼玉県川越市新富町2-6-1 丸広百貨店内
長野営業所:長野県諏訪郡下諏訪町萩倉 TEL諏訪局(7) 7827
And machine translated:
Head Office/Factory: 1-32-4 Hayamiya, Nerima-ku, Tokyo TEL991-4579 (main representative)
Osaka Branch: 1-1519 Kawaramachi, Minami-ku, Osaka TEL Osaka 06(641)6074
Second factory: 1-49-3 Hayamiya, Nerima-ku, Tokyo
Saitama Office: Inside Maruhiro Department Store, 2-6-1 Shintomicho, Kawagoe City, Saitama Prefecture
Nagano Office: Hagikura, Shimosuwa-machi, Suwa-gun, Nagano Prefecture TEL Suwa Bureau (7) 7827
In addition to "nt", they use the brand Nitten on some products:
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| it's hard to read, but I think that says Nitten |
They released 4 machines that have a very distinctive cabinet, with cut-away side profile where the players' controls are.
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| 1969 Socker Ace - サッカーエース (Soccer Ace) by 日本展望娯楽社 (Nihon Tenbo Entertainment Company — Nitten) |
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| 1970 ビート & スパーク (Beat & Spark) [Socker] by 東急商事株式會社 (Tokyo Corporation) & 日本展望娯楽社 (Nihon Tenbo) |
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| 1970 ジャンボ キック (Jumbo Kick) by 東急商事株式會社 (Tokyo Corporation) & 日本展望娯楽社 (Nihon Tenbo) |
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| 1971 Socker - サッカー (Soccer) by 日本展望娯楽社 (Nihon Tenbo Entertainment Company — Nitten) |
This is the exact same distinctive cutaway we see on Ultra Attack, and the exact same t-moulding.
Lucky for us, Jay Stafford of IPDB has documented many angles of this machine.
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| via IPDB |
Control panel:
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| via IPDB |
Why does the the Ultraman Attack control panel say "L Kick" and "R Kick"? Because it is the exact same control panel that Beat & Spark has.
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| ビート & スパーク (Beat & Spark) [Socker] by 東急商事株式會社 (Tokyo Corporation) & 日本展望娯楽社 (Nihon Tenbo) control panel and playfield detail |
If we look at the playfields, they have the exact same layout, except for one difference: the bulb lights at the bottom right and left corners are higher up on Beat & Spark.
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| playfield detail via IPDB ウルトラアタック (Ultra Attack) by 日本娯楽機 (Nihon Gorakuki) & 日本展望娯楽社 (Nihon Tenbo) [presumed] |
I think it is quite fair to say that these machines utilize the Nihon Tenbo game Beat & Spark as a base, with a fresh (and licensed!) art package on top of it. But there is even more evidence of this connection!
This post is for two games. At first glance, you might think it is an alternative backglass, but none of the display lamps line up. This would require a separate design for the backbox wiring. (the playfields also have slight differences, but more on that later)
So let's go back to Ultra Attack and compare backboxes to Beat & Spark:
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| all of the lamps are in the exact same position. |
Ultra Attack has a backglass that aligns with the lamps for Jumbo Kick.
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| all of the lamps are in the exact same position. |
When we compare the playfields and controls, we see that Ultra Attack is a Jumbo Kick with new artwork.
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| 1970 ジャンボ キック (Jumbo Kick) by 東急商事株式會社 (Tokyo Corporation) & 日本展望娯楽社 (Nihon Tenbo) detail of control panel and playfield |
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| playfield from Ultra Spark |
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| controls from Ultra Spark |
This is why I have added "日本展望娯楽社 (Nihon Tenbo) [presumed]" for the companies for Ultra Attack.
I only have a glimpse of it, but I want to note that Ultra Spark uses the same side cabinet art as the other model.
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| side art of Ultra Spark |
Please note: I have no recollection of where I found Ultra Spark photographs. If you know where they are from, please do let me know!
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