For the opening of this blog, I decided to revisit and rework some threads I had written on X. X's format, particularly the character limit, seems particularly difficult and frustrating for clearly developing certain ideas.
I would like to start with Blondie (ブロンディー or ブロンディ).
What is Blondie?
In other words, they rented arcade games, such as pinball machines or UFO catchers, to neighborhood businesses like snack bars or hotels. These businesses would pay installments at regular intervals. They could stop payments at any time and return the machine. Or they could go until the last installment, and the machine would then be permanently acquired.
This was apparently a lucrative business since Blondie was a group that included 16 companies across Japan, about 200 employees, and more than 1,500 machines on lease in the early 70s. Its headquarters is "a small building in North Shinjuku". This could be the Takazawa Building (高沢ビル), as it's the first address of the company that would succeed Blondie (address: 東京都新宿区北新宿一の七の二十一 / 1-7-21, Kita-Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tôkyô).
 |
| Takazawa Building |
In the forgotten corners of history
And yet, despite its size, Blondie is totally forgotten today, even by those interested in gaming history. Sources are practically non-existent on the internet.
However, if we dig a little, in the weekly magazine Shûkan Sankei (週刊サンケイ) (issues 13/10/1972 and 20/10/1972), there is an 8-page article with firsthand information. I ordered and received a copy of this article from the Diet National Library. This article is a transcription of a conference titled "Seminar on how to become rich" (金儲けセミナー). The speaker is... the president of Blondie himself, Tokuzô Uragami (浦上徳三). During this conference, he briefly discusses his early years, then the events that led him to create his company, as well as some anecdotes and advice on becoming a successful entrepreneur.
The president
Let's start with Tokuzô Uragami.
.jpg) |
| Tokuzô Uragami (浦上徳三), president of Blondie |
The early days
He was born in 1931. At the age of 6, he became an apprentice in a kimono store and was unable to attend school properly. Around the age of 20, he became "a champion of boxing with a record of twenty consecutive victories in the welterweight category.". He also mentions that he worked in bread-making for a time.
The turning point
Then he had to go to the Ebara police station (as a victim, I guess) in Ôta ward (大田区), Tôkyô.
As it's difficult to explain what happened there in all its nuances, I'll limit myself to a quote:
"Next to me, sitting on the investigator's side, were two men. I heard that one was a snack bar owner, but the other's business was not clear. That mysterious person was bragging excessively, saying things like, 'Hey, if you can't pay, I'll have to take back the goods!' The owner of the snack was pleading with the detective in front, 'Can't something be done, officer? I've already paid nine out of ten monthly installments,' leaning against him.
Without thinking, I interjected into the conversation, 'Just by listening nearby, what nonsense. This guy has paid nine times, and just because he can't make the last payment, this guy here wants to take back the goods. Isn't he an outrageous guy?' But upon closer inspection, it turned out that such an agreement was in place, and the snack owner's argument might not be entirely correct."
('I want to try that too.') That's when it all began, and the material for it was picked up from the police investigator. So, even now, I don't sleep with my feet pointing towards the Ebara Police Station. Several years later, I went there to express my gratitude. 'Thanks to you, I heard an interesting story, and look, as you can see, I've made money.' The detective who responded at that time, indeed, smiled ironically, saying, 'Cut it out, Uragami, that sounds sarcastic.'"
It seems that the "mysterious person" had a leasing business. It also appears that debt management is a central topic in this profession. Over the course of the article's 8 pages, both subjects, leasing and debt management, are treated with equal importance, but I will concentrate on the amusement machine side.
A first step in the arcade industry
What did Tokuzô Uragami do after leaving the police station anyway? He managed to borrow a total of one hundred thousand yen from various friends and bought three second-hand cranes by paying the first installment. He attached them to the roof of his car for transport and negotiated to install them on the front of a public bath.
Success was not long in coming. The number of machines increased, as did the number of sites.
So we don't know when Blondie officially began as a company, but the business started around 1962 (because Tokuzô Uragami said "about 10 years ago") by operating amusement machines.
It's possible that Blondie maintained this activity as an operator throughout because the company that succeeded Blondie claimed to operate 25 game centers in 1975.
The Blondie's machines
We don't know which companies supply the amusement machines, except that Sega Enterprises is one of them.
Blondie also produces its own machines. There are two: Mini Derby and Juke Machine.
Mini Derby is a medal game in which you bet on the winner of a horse race, represented by numbers. The lamp turns in a circle, and if it stops on the number you've chosen, you win the jackpot.
 |
| Mini Derby |
This type of machine became quite widespread in the 70s, and you can find more information on Caitlyn's excellent blog.
Juke Machine (that's its name) is a jukebox "combining the mechanism of 'Derby' with a music tape box, allowing you to enjoy plenty of music for the number of medals inserted".
In the introduction to the article, Blondie is presented as a manufacturer (製造). However, we know that the manufacturer of Mini Derby is Ômori Denki (大森電気) since it's written on the back of the machine. This Ômori Denki is certainly the same as the future video game maker.
 |
| Back side of the Mini Derby machine mentions Ômori Denki (大森電気) as the manufacturer |
Strangely enough, Tokuzô Uragami repeatedly claims to have made his fortune with 10-yen coins. Yet both machines work with medals. Maybe 10-yen coins are considered as medals?
The dark side
Finally, there are the gambling machines. And Tokuzô Uragami has this to say about them:
"These machines are found in snack bars and late-night restaurants. Instead of medals, you insert 100-yen coins or 50-yen coins, and if you win, 100-yen or 50-yen coins come tumbling out. But, as you can imagine, 'gambling' is, without saying, an illicit activity, and if caught, your hands will be tied. We don't engage in this at my place. You understand, right? What I want to say here is that collecting 100-yen or 50-yen coins is disgraceful. It's best to continue efforts, find places to attract customers, and collect 10-yen coins. If 10-yen coins accumulate, it turns into thousands."
It's funny because that's exactly what happened a year earlier. Tokuzô Uragami had his hands tied by the police for suspicion of running a gambling business. He forgot to mention it, but the Tôkyô district court did not. The conclusions of the trial are available for consultation in this archive.
The plaintiff, Toshio 'Harold' Ôie (大家・ハロルド・俊夫), is a former U.S. Army officer. He imports slot machines, probably from Pacific U.S. base stocks, refurbishes them, and resells them on the Japanese market. Suspected of participating in the gambling business by illegally modifying machines, his workshop is raided by the police. A journalist is present and describes the workshop as "clandestine" and "disorganized" in an article.
Here are the quotes in which Tokuzô Uragami is involved:
"Around the time the article was reported on May 7, 1971, modified slot machines that allowed gaming with 100-yen coins were placed in cafes and snack bars in Tôkyô without obtaining permission from the Public Safety Commission. The number of such machines reached several hundred in the city. Each slot machine generated profits exceeding several hundred thousand yen per month, becoming a source of funds for organized crime syndicates. In response, the Tôkyô Metropolitan Police Department's Security Department and Atago Police Station took measures to crack down on these activities."
"Around April 5 of the same year, Uragami Tokuzo, a senior member of the organized crime group Himonya Family (碑文谷一家), was arrested on suspicion of engaging in gambling activities with the modified slot machines. As a result of the interrogation, it was revealed that Uragami had known the plaintiff Ôie (大家) since around 1967, and the plaintiff had sold several modified slot machines to Uragami."
"Subsequently, Itô Yutaka (伊藤豊), an associate member of the former organized crime group Tôseikai (東声会), was arrested on suspicion of placing two modified slot machines in the mahjong parlor "Kyôgoku" (京極) and forcing customers to gamble. It was revealed that Itô had met the plaintiff Ôie through an introduction from Uragami, bought at least one of the two slot machines from the plaintiff, and had also purchased similar slot machines from the plaintiff. When selling the machine, the plaintiff told Itô, "The game is fast, and you can make much more money than Rotamint, so you should specialize in this machine."
"The gaming machines inside 'Kyôgoku' used 'Olympia Star' cabinets permitted in Japan. However, they were evidently modified in Japan, deviating from the approved conditions. Reel images, originally supplied exclusively to the US military, were affixed. The coin entry was expanded to accommodate 100-yen coins, and the timer motor, necessary for approval, was removed to increase the reel rotation speed. These slot machines were unmistakably recognized as having been altered in Japan, not adhering to the permitted conditions."
In any case, Tokuzô Uragami preferred to sweep his troubles with the police under the rug and carry on with his activities as if nothing had happened.
The Olympia machine
As for the Olympia Star machine mentioned in the text, the original machine is not imported but manufactured in Japan by a joint venture between Taito and Sega called Olympia. It's the first pachislot in history. More details here.
Some more anecdotes
Returning to the Shûkan Sankei article and the seminar, here are a few additional remarks.
The good samaritan
- Tokuzô Uragami mentions that he has helped several people set up their own businesses in the amusement machine industry. However, information is too scarce to determine what these companies are. It's a bit later, but I suspect Tsumura (ツムラ) (founded in January 1973), Kansai Kigyô (関西企業) (founded in June 1973) and Oga Corporation (オガ・コーポレーション) are among them due to the links they will have with the company that will succeed Blondie.
- He also mentions that he recently bought a restaurant in Senzoku, in the Ôta district (洗足, 大田区) from someone who was deep in debt and paid the debts.
- An interesting aspect is that in Tokuzô Uragami's discourse, we find many similarities with that of "blue sky operators," namely promising unrealistic money against the purchase of a game machine.
"But here's what happened that surprised me. You'll be amazed. It started with a distinguished middle-aged person saying, 'Mr. Uragami, could you help me with a good deal? My husband isn't working well, so I thought maybe if I buy one machine, I could earn something...' and similar requests kept coming, mainly from the wives of salarymen. Reflecting on it, it's quite natural. In today's Japan, stories of the economy getting slightly better, or the GNP, whatever that is, ranking Japan's citizens as the second or third wealthiest in the world, are outrageous lies. Even for the Japanese, it's not the time to relax and enjoy life; you still need to work hard and save money, even if you're just eating bread. However, what surprised me about the consultations I received was that everyone uniformly said, 'Even 10,000 yen a day in earnings.' No joke. Of course, if you set up at ten places, you might earn around 10,000 yen at two of them. But even this is a story that requires that level of effort."
More information about blue sky operators on the defunct site The Golden Age Arcade Historian
As sly as a fox
Tokuzô Uragami recalls an event that took place a year earlier. Blondie had sold 30 "Blondie machines" in exchange for promissory bills worth 11 million yen. But the buyer turns out to be insolvent. Blondie was in great danger. In the reserve stock were machines purchased from three companies he called A, B and C, and Blondie still had to make payment to each of them. These machines were supposed to be leased. Tokuzô Uragami offered to pay A with B's machines. This was still better than not being paid by an insolvent company, so A accepted. He then paid B with machines from C and C with machines from A. He even made a profit at each stage. It ended with the reserve stock being empty but with a big benefit. He also mentions he had some more bounced checks during the next year.
It's interesting because it's probably one of the reasons why some amusement machines are sold by different companies with very light modifications like changing the name with a sticker, etc.
And also, if the story is true, it means that there were already "Blondie machines" a year earlier (1971): Mini Derby? Juke Machine? Another one?
Some dreams for the future
One last thing. Tokuzô Uragami chose to share his dream about Blondie. Here is the quote:
"I want to expand the Blondie group companies to thirty in the next one or two years. The bosses of these thirty companies will collaborate, build a single office building, make the third floor or higher into condominiums, and live here together.
If thirty people contribute 100,000 yen each to a fixed-term deposit every month, within a year or so, we can borrow 100 million or 200 million yen. Since we have thirty guarantors, the bank that lends the money should be at ease. Then, we can use that money for a tourism business, buy a hotel in Hawaii, or perhaps build a large amusement park like Korakuen. When I think about such things, I can't be idle."
 |
| He can't be idle |
The harsh reality and the conclusion (?)
Things didn't go according to plan, as Blondie went bankrupt only 7 months later (May 1973). In the absence of information, we can only speculate on the reasons for this bankruptcy: uncollectible debts? new troubles with the police and the justice system? In any case, Tokuzô Uragami does not let himself be defeated. The company was reborn the following month (June 1973) as Fuji Enterprise (フジエンタープライズ). Basically, it was the same company with the same activities and the same structures.
And of course we will talk about Fuji Enterprise in another article.
.png)
Aucun commentaire:
Enregistrer un commentaire