Japan

Interesting ideas on childcare.

Day-care Centers a Sure Bet for Pachinko Parlors
11/28/2005
The Asahi Shimbun Asahi Shimbun - Tokyo, Japan

Sometimes it pays to take a little time out for oneself ... or does it?

It's a question currently doing the rounds of the nation's pachinko industry as an increasing number of pachinko parlors move to set up adjacent day-care centers. The idea, say operators, is to give stressed-out moms a break and let them play pachinko knowing that their tots are in good hands.

Critics, however, say providing "pachinko" day care could lead to mothers developing serious gambling habits. And while they acknowledge it is better than leaving kids in the car while moms and dads try their luck at the machines--as is known to happen--there is no guarantee of safety.

A 2005 white paper on leisure by the Japan Productivity Center for Socio-Economic Development, found that 8.3 percent of women, or about 5.4 million, played the slot machine/pinball hybrid more than once last year.

One such fan, a 40-year-old homemaker from Handa City, Aichi Prefecture, has no qualms about leaving her 1-year-old at Little Cat, a day-care center in the complex where she plays pachinko about five times a month.

"It really helps, because I can concentrate (on pachinko)," she says.

She tries to arrive at Handa Korona World on the outskirts of Handa at opening time, and leaves her child at the third-floor day-care center for about six to seven hours while she sits at the machines.

She says she checks on her child every four hours, a rule enforced by the center, but promptly returns to the game after signing up for a few hours more.

"I feel sorry for my child, but if the two of us stayed at home all day I would feel suffocated."
On good days, she wins about 30,000 yen. On bad days, she loses more.

She reckons the few thousand yen she spends on day care each time is "cheap considering that pachinko is my only stress-reliever."

TK Support Tot Mate, a Nagoya-based day-care provider that runs Little Cat, says on busy days, the center cares for about 20 children at any given time. Generally, say TK Support staff, the children are aged between six months to eight years. Several staff, all licensed in child care, supervise each shift.

Inside the 65-square-meter facility, toys are scattered around the floor and, aside from the children's chatter, it is remarkably quiet. A staff member says that's because it was carefully set aside from the noisy pachinko and game parlors.

Parents pay 1,000 yen an hour to have their kids looked after, but only 500 yen if they provide a receipt of money spent in the complex's pachinko parlor or movie theater.

"More than 90 percent of our customers are young homemakers who enjoy pachinko. We also get questions regarding child-rearing (from these customers)," says a company official.

TK Support has so far formed business ties with five pachinko-related complexes in Aichi, Kanagawa and Gunma prefectures.

The company also plans to open four more day-care centers in Aichi Prefecture in the next year.
Petit-Mathew, a day-care center that opened last December in the Million 1100 Asaka game complex in Asaka City, Saitama Prefecture, offers more than a simple baby-sitting service. Staff there read books to children, teach them how to play cards as well as write Japanese characters.
"The center even educates my child. Their services are thorough and more convenient than nursery schools or kindergartens," says a 29-year-old homemaker who leaves her 1-year-old daughter at Petit-Mathew almost daily.

Plans 21, a Tokyo-based event-planning company that runs Petit-Mathew, hopes to eventually incorporate private English lessons and early childhood education courses at the center. "We need to give stressed-out women time for themselves," says a Plans 21 official.

The move to set up day -care facilities follows a series of incidents in which children left unattended in cars parked in pachinko parlor parking lots died of dehydration.

But officials of Zenichiuen, an association for pachinko and slot machine parlor operators, are not so sure the pachinko and child-care industries are so well suited.

"We have doubts about whether opening day-care centers can ensure the safety of children or whether it will attract more female customers," said an association official.

Hitoshi Tanabe, executive director of the Hokkaido Mental Health Welfare Center and a psychiatrist who has written books on gambling addiction, is similarly concerned. He warns that, "People who leave their children at day-care centers for long periods to gamble have a high possibility of becoming dependent on gambling."

Tanabe says he feels a sense of urgency with regard to the rising number of women who suffer from gambling dependency.

"We are seeing an increase in inquiries from homemakers. We need a social structure that improves the community in which women are dependent on gambling," he says.