Visitors play pachinko, a Japanese form of legal gambling, at a pachinko parlour, after the government announced nationwide state of emergency following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Tokyo, Japan April 22, 2020. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon
TOKYO (Reuters) - As stores have closed across Japan during a state of emergency, some pachinko parlours remain defiantly open, sparking concern the noisy gambling halls could undermine the government's fight against the novel coronavirus.
The halls, where players sit back-to-back at long rows of machines amid the jangle of bouncing steel balls and garish flashing lights, are a fixture on many Japanese streets and are popular with young people, the underemployed and hardcore gamblers.
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