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The story
A thread appeared on 5ch’s “Anything Goes Live” board (なんでも実況G) started by an original poster (OP) who admitted to losing ¥20,000 playing pachi-slot on the very day their welfare payment came in. According to OP, the money had only just been deposited that day, with several more days to go before the next payment. The thread filled with voices scolding OP to “live a bit more responsibly,” while others questioned the system itself, asking “if you can afford to gamble, do you even need welfare?” OP, for their part, said “pachi-slot is my only reason to live” and “I want to win it back,” and also revealed they suffer from depression and a developmental disorder. The thread turned into a back-and-forth of defense and criticism, fueled by differing payment dates and disagreement over how welfare money should be spent.
What people said
It just came in today, though
You still haven't paid that fine, right?
I gave up on paying the fine
Mine's the 3rd
Mine's basically the start of the month
That overlaps with pension payday
That's pension, isn't it
Pachi-slot is literally the only thing I live for
Probably not the same guy — that's the old geezer whose thread titles are always like 'I want coffee' or 'I've got no food'
ID ending in M?
My bad, wasn't me then
Moral of the story: you've gotta watch your pending win indicator (horyu) all the way to the end.
Wasn't there an early tell (sakibare) for it?
It was the 'Utawarerumono' machine, so that was pre-read heat (sakiyomi-netsu), not an early tell (sakibare).
Unlike other SANKYO cabinets, that machine can't combine pre-read heat with an early tell, and the early tell's reliability is under 40%, so a lot of players just ignore it.
Nice find, that was a lucky pickup
I haven't pulled the 'I'm short on money' routine
I'm not happy at all
This guy's 100% OP posting under a different ID
Lol, the guy switching IDs every post is barking
How do you even get two IDs ending in 0?
Sorry, I don't get what you mean
Isn't that a unit of money?
'㌔' means kilo/1000, so 1k = ¥1,000
Let's work hard and win it back
I really want to win it back
Consider this a warning: when I actually snap, even I don't know what I'll do
They wait outside the ward office before it opens, and the second the doors open they're screaming abuse demanding their money.
They take the money while still complaining, then come back in the evening yelling 'Someone stole it, give me more money!'
They keep shouting and hurling abuse until the police show up and drag them off.
I'd love to see that myself, so tell me which city hall it is
When I've been to the ward office, I've never seen anyone like that though
If you wouldn't get mad about a welfare recipient joining your company and wrecking the work, then sure, keep making that argument
I'm not young anymore, and I have depression and a developmental disorder
Background and Talking Points
Welfare payment dates vary by municipality, and thread replies were split between the 3rd, the 5th, the start of the month, and the 15th of even-numbered months (some commenters even confused the 15th-of-the-month payout with pension day). Under Japan’s Public Assistance Act, there’s no rule restricting how recipients spend their benefits once paid, so spending it on pachinko or slots isn’t illegal in itself. That’s fueled a recurring clash between critics who argue “if you can afford to gamble, you don’t need welfare” and those who say how the money is spent is a matter of personal freedom — and this thread is just the latest replay of that argument. OP’s disclosure of depression and a developmental disorder hints at the harder realities facing recipients who struggle to work, but overall the thread leaned more toward self-deprecating jokes and banter than serious debate.
*This article is compiled and summarized from the 5ch (Anything Goes Live board) thread “I’m on welfare, and since today was payment day I went to the pachi-slot parlor and lost 20k.”
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