Kanagawa prefectural police arrested a self-described operator of a game-machine gambling parlor and one of his employees on suspicion of habitual gambling, accusing them of letting customers bet money on pachislot machines installed at the shop, the force announced on November 5. Both men admit to the allegation, according to police.
The two are a 30-year-old man from Yokohama's Naka Ward who described himself as the operator of the parlor, and a 32-year-old employee from the city's Nishi Ward. Police did not release their names.
According to the prefectural police's public safety division, the men are suspected of running the parlor, called Q, in Fufucho Nishidori in Naka Ward, and of gambling with customers on pachislot machines installed there, including titles such as Jugglar, at around 7:50 p.m. on October 28.
The Jugglar machines at the shop were an old model, a so-called type 4 machine with a high element of chance. Shops are no longer allowed to install that type under the entertainment business law, which regulates gambling-adjacent businesses.
Three customers in their 30s to 50s were inside when officers entered the shop on October 28. Police arrested two other employees of the parlor that day, catching them in the act.
Documents seized by police indicate the shop opened for business in December 2021 and had taken in about ¥1 billion by October 26 this year, roughly ¥560,000 a day. Police are investigating how the four men are connected and are looking into whether some kind of organization stands behind the operation.