재일코리안 ‘파친코’업의 역사적 의미

Abstract

The ‘Pachinko’ business occupies a very important position in the history of the Koreans in Japan(Zainichi) after World WarⅡ. The business exceeded 30 trillion yen a year during mid-1990s and it surpassed Japan’s auto industry. It is known that the proportion of Koreans in Japan of the business is about 70%. It is a very unusual high concentration in specific business. Therefore, there is no doubt that this industry is viewed as an ‘ethnic business’. The Pachinko business in Japan has been formed under historical background. After World WarⅡ, Koreans in Japan were liberated but not accepted into Japanese society and a high proportion of people were in poverty. As a result, Koreans were concentrated in niche markets where the Japanese were rarely engaged in. The Pachinko business was one of those kinds and profitable business which provided a better environment economically. Since the 1960s, the Pachinko owners have been the frontier investors of Korean leisure and tourism business. However they have tended to be passive and evasive to speak out their main jobs in Japan. They were only introduced and perceived as representatives of “success stories” as Koreans in Japan. Due to various scandals, their jobs were the subject of criticism. In Japan, the historical process of the Koreans’ concentration on the Pachinko were ignored. The Pachinko business had been involved in scandals such as tax issues, gangsters, political issues in Japan, South Korea and North Korea. As a result, a negative image of “hotbed of social evil” has been established. The formation of this perception tended to continue even in Korea. Koreans living in Korea seem to be more interested in the economic success than post-liberation historical process that the Koreans in Japan have experienced. The selective and ambivalent emotions penetrate the foundation. It can be said the perception of the Pachinko business is an example of such ambivalent sentiment.