CLAIMS TO FAME
- Largest individual shareholder of Japan’s second largest pachinko operator
Challenges abound for Japan’s pachinko industry, and the country’s second largest pachinko hall operator Dynam Japan has certainly not been immune.
Despite making significant changes to its business model in recent years – converting high playing cost halls to low playing cost halls and targeting entertainment over volatility – the company has seen the number of halls under its banner steadily decline in recent years, from 448 halls in 2020 to 442 in 2021, 433 in 2022 and 429 as of 31 March 2023.
And there are other concerns too. While group-wide revenue grew by 11.5% in FY23, profits plummeted by 64% to JPY1.81 billion (US$13.0 million) due to what Dynam described as an increase in depreciation expenses of its pachinko and pachislot machines and “unprecedented skyrocketing utilities expenses” post-COVID.
Dynam is hoping the implementation of “smart pachinko” – machines that use a carded system without the need to physically touch medals or balls – will reenergize the industry but has also outlined plans to “reinvent pachinko gaming as a form of everyday entertainment that everyone can easily enjoy, as a regional infrastructure.
“To realize everyday entertainment, we must manage our business so that our customers consider the time and money they spend in our halls are at acceptable levels for everyday entertainment,” it said in May.
Dynam remains a family-owned business and, according to sources, Yoji Sato is still the company’s key decision maker courtesy of the personal 34% stake he holds in the company his father founded in 1967.
For the full list of 2023 Asian Gaming Power 50 winners, click here.
