Stop Pachinko and Vending Machines! Conserve Energy for Japan's Recovery!

"All to lose and nothing to gain" is not true at all to North and South Korea when it comes to pachinko business fully owned and operated by citizens of both North and South Korea ( 96% of pachinko parlors owned and operated by two Koreas and the rest by Republic of China.). Two Koreas have greatly benefited from and have thrived on pachinko business in the last decades while fabricating a number of stories such as "comfort women", "Takeshima", "36 years annexation of the Korean peninsula by Japan", etc.

Japan now faces its unprecedented crisis resulting from a triple disaster (a massive quake, tsunami, and a crippled nuclear plant in Fukushima) and Japan must mobilize all its resources to speed up its  recovery efforts now pouring into the devastated areas.

 A Summary of His Comment on Pachinko and Vending Machines ( from 1 min. 10 sec  to 3 min. 6 sec.)

Mr. Ishihara said: Electricity use in Japan should be characterized by abnormalities as seen in present usage patterns. As far as I know, pachinko parlors consume 4.5 million kW and vending machines 4.5 million kW. Close to 10 million kW of electricity is consumed when two sectors are combined. I don't think we can find any country in the whole world wasting this much energy on sectors we really don't require in carrying out our daily life. Why don't you all use your own refrigerators at home? I don't have much knowledge of what pachinko machines look like nowadays because I don't play it at all. I remember when I was a college student, pachinko machines were all manual, not requiring electricity at all.  Pachinko machines used today require much electricity with lots of lights flickering all over, making loud noises. No nation in the world will accept this kind of practice at all since they all consume too much electricity all night long. The amount of electricity of two sectors consume is just the same as Fukushima Daiichi used to generate. We all have to review this practice, considering the current crisis. The Government of Japan must issue an energy-saving decree as done during the late Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka when Japan experienced oil crises in 1970s. In those days, we didn't have vending machines as many as we do now. Although Minister in charge of electricity conservation promotion Ms. Renho came to meet me and said "Please cooperate with us in conserving energy!", the situation we are in now is not that simple at all. I believe that every Japanese national is well aware of it. We all can live without pachinko parlors and vending machines at all. What do we need them for?