KOCHI (TR) – Heiwa Shoji Co., Ltd., a pachinko parlor operator based in Susaki City ceased all business operations on October 31 and moved to file for bankruptcy on November 4, according to Tokyo Shoko Research’s Kochi branch.
The company was first established in March 1968 as a sole proprietorship trading under the name Heiwa Kaikan in Shimachi, Susaki City, and over the following decades built a formidable regional empire, anchoring three locations within Susaki City alone.
At the height of its power in the fiscal year ending December 1998, the chain was running five parlors and posting annual revenues of a staggering 10.82 billion yen, making it one of the dominant pachinko operators in the prefecture.
The long slide began in 2005, when the company started closing underperforming locations one by one as foot traffic dried up. By recent years, the entire operation had been reduced to a single surviving outlet, the Heiwa Nexus parlor, with annual sales shriveled to roughly 1.2 billion yen, a fraction of its former glory.
Total liabilities stand at approximately 500 million yen, Tokyo Shoko Research said.
