My entire family had read Pachinko except for me, though I’m arguably the biggest fiction reader of us all. I’ve had my hands on the book for a few years now, ever since the past tenants of my college apartment left a dog-eared copy at the door. Its size alone has managed to daunt me for far too long. But after visiting my mother’s home country of Japan last winter, I knew that the time was coming for me to crack open Pachinko and experience a world that was beginning to feel a lot more familiar to me.
Author of the popular Free Food for Millionaires, Min Jin Lee has crafted this novel with remarkable depth, transporting readers through space and time alongside four generations of a Korean family. Although the beginning of Pachinko takes place in the beautiful Yeongdo, Korea, the majority of the book elapses in Japanese cities such as Osaka and Tokyo, spanning all the way from 1910 to 1989. Pachinko tells the complex, multi-generational saga of a Korean family who moves to Japan and struggles with love, belonging, sacrifice, and ultimately, survival.
Though I am half-Japanese, last year was my first time visiting Japan. It was a transformative experience, marked by bustling cities, mouth-watering okonomiyaki, new Japanese phrases, and of course, glimpses of pachinko: an addictive Japanese gambling game that combines aspects of slot machines and pinball. Reading Pachinko allowed me to reminisce on some of my cherished memories from these travels, transporting me across oceans and time-zones with its vivid imagery and rich detail.
Included in this travel guide are 10 locations to visit in Japan and Korea to experience the world of Min Jin Lee’s esteemed Pachinko.
Yeongdo Lighthouse
Located on the Korean island where Sunja grows up early in the novel, Yeongdo Lighthouse represents a sense of home, peace, and belonging by the water. Lee describes this shore with “the heavy scent of seaweed, the foamy lather of the waves along the rocky beach, and the emptiness of the blue-and-gray landscape but for the white circling birds above them” (56). Visitors can walk along the cliffs and enjoy an ocean view by the lighthouse, remembering Sunja’s daily meetings with Koh Hansu. On clear days, you may even be able to see as far as the Japanese island of Tsushima.
Nakdong River
Paired with Yeongdo Lighthouse, the Nakdong River reminds me of the natural beauty that Sunja originates from. During her lunch breaks, she would meet Hansu in secret, or leave an overturned rock as a sign that she had been waiting for him. Walking along this river helps you imagine the slow, simple life of Sunja while she lived at the boardinghouse with her mother Yangjin. Enjoy a stroll or even a cruise down the river on a clear, blue-sky day in Korea.
Kuromon Market
There are many scenes in Pachinko with the backdrop of an open-air, public market. In Yeongdo, where the book begins, Sunja visits one of the largest markets in Korea daily to acquire “first, the fresh produce, next, the soup bones from the butcher…deep rows of glittering cutlass fish, or plump sea bream caught hours earlier” (23). Kuromon Market is a modern take on the kind of market Sunja would have visited in Osaka later in the book when she sells her famed kimchi recipe. With approximately 150 shops total, Kuromon Market offers an endless array of Japanese delicacies to select from—and plenty of fresh fish. Try the street food staple takoyaki, and make sure to follow local customs by not eating while walking.
Nikuya no Daidokoro Miyamasuzaka
Nikuya no Daidokoro Miyamasuzaka in Tokyo represents the restaurant in which Sunja sold her prized kimchi, with “”lingering smells of burnt meat” still hanging in the air (167). Dining at a yakiniku-style restaurant like this one allows visitors to savor Japanese-style barbecue as described in Pachinko. The dining experience will include cooking your own meat and vegetables right on your table’s personal grill. Prepare to smell like meat for the rest of the night. A worthy sacrifice for a flavorful, authentic meal!
Meiji Jingu Temple
When I visited Meiji Jingu, a favorite location of mine in Tokyo, my mom told me about shinrin-yoku, or “forest-bathing.” I felt utterly at peace in this forest, sun rays pouring in through the canopies. Meiji Jingu is a must-see Shinto shrine and forest in Tokyo, and reminiscent of the forest that Sunja and Hansu walk through early in the book to collect mushrooms. Lee writes how “immense trees stood high above them, and it was like entering the dark, leafy house of a giant” (42).
Osaka Ikuno Korea Town
Around 20% of the residents in the Ikuno Ward are of Korean descent, which is quite noteworthy for a country as ethnically homogenous as Japan. Visiting Osaka Ikuno Korea Town reflects the modern-day Korean community of Japan, and helps us imagine Sunja’s family’s experiences as Korean immigrants in Japan. Korea Town offers a direct connection to the mixture of identities present in Pachinko, while allowing visitors the opportunity to explore Korean shops, restaurants, and cultural centers.
Waseda University
In Pachinko, Sunja’s son Noa attends Waseda University, a prestigious university in Tokyo. He absolutely loved Waseda, even though he could only spend two years there. I would highly recommend exploring the neighboring Shinjuku, one of Tokyo’s busiest districts. If you need a break from the bustle, feel free to visit the Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden too.
Osaka-Takamatsu Cathedral
Christianity is central to Isak’s identity in Pachinko, and we experience many scenes in the church as Isak undergoes the process of marrying Sunja. The church in Pachinko is described as a “slanted wooden frame house in the back streets of Ikaino…its only distinguishing mark a humble white cross painted on its brown wooden door” (112). In Japan, Christianity has a small but important presence. With religion in the backdrop of many parts of the novel, a church like Osaka-Takamatsu Cathedral needed to be on this list.
Izakaya Mushroom Cooking Kinoko
When in Japan, you must experience an izakaya (the Japanese equivalent of a pub), which offers plenty of small plates to share while customers light their cigarettes. Towards the end of Pachinko, Solomon spends a lot of time betting in “no-name [izakayas] in Roppongi with his friends and co-workers (437). I loved my experience in Mushroom Cooking Kinoko izakaya, hopping from vendor to vendor among the narrowest of smoky corridors.
Pachinko & Slot 123
Pachinko machines refer to the loud, fast-paced slot machines that are an inescapable cultural phenomenon in major cities in Japan. Pachinko parlors are central to many of the characters’ lives in this novel, with both of Sunja’s sons, Mozasu and Noa, ending up intertwined in the risky business. When in Japan, visitors can witness these parlors from the outside in order to understand the appeal, controversy, and judgment associated with the pachinko business. I remember seeing a line for a pachinko parlor in Tokyo for the first time and being shocked by the addiction and compulsion present in a culture generally understood to be so rule-abiding and polite.
Final Thoughts
Pachinko was a book full of rich locations across Korea and Japan, from tranquil paths in Japanese forests to noisy pachinko parlors and izakayas. In fact, it’s a book in which setting is absolutely essential to the telling of the characters’ stories, and the only way to experience this story is through this aspect of place. Many of the sections are even labeled with the time and place in which they occur.
I would recommend Pachinko to lovers of Asian American literature, family sagas, and complex novels. And if you enjoyed this novel, I would also recommend watching the highly-rated adaptation of Pachinko on Apple TV, created by Soo Hugh, or reading Free Food for Millionaires, the well-loved debut novel of Min Jin Lee.
Though I may have had too high of expectations going in, I would rate Pachinko 3.5 out of 5 stars. To be fair, I was impressed by the complexity of the novel, with Lee bridging four interweaving generations of a family, across two countries and several cities all brought completely to life. However, I didn’t feel that much. There was so much tragedy and loss, but I never felt the intensity of this in my chest. I struggled to become completely engrossed in the novel or entirely attached to the characters, and I usually look for one or the other in the novels I read.
Call me heartless, though, because I know my Japanese mother was dripping tears onto the pages of this book. And book critics generally agree. In an NPR review, Jean Zimmerman writes that Pachinko is “the kind of book that can open your eyes and fill them with tears at the same time” and that “the core message remains ultimately one of survival and hope.” Thus, for those who haven’t read it yet, I would still recommend this book, even if it didn’t resonate with me as much as I would have wished. Maybe I’ll leave my copy for the next tenants of this apartment, and they will find better luck gambling with Pachinko.
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