Laws, regulations and ordinances stipulate that a new pachinko parlor cannot be opened near a hospital, school or residential area. Therefore, in order to open a pachinko parlor the operator needs to select an appropriate location that not only meets the requirements but where they can also expect to receive steady business. After finding a good location to open a pachinko parlor, there are many steps to be taken before actually opening one.

First, a market area survey and a survey of competitors are generally conducted to find a suitable property. These surveys are conducted to find the business conditions that can be expected such as the number of competitors in the market area and the state of their business, and involve significantly detailed investigations to identify whether the location is a highly competitive area, or why the location has had few pachinko parlors if it is not a highly competitive area. Otherwise the population per game machine can be calculated in addition to investigating basic matters such as traffic volume and population. These surveys can give a pachinko parlor operator a good idea of the most appropriate scale and approach to the business when starting a pachinko parlor in a particular location.

After securing a location to open a pachinko parlor, the next step is to build the parlor. Apart from the building and parking area, there are a number of facilities essential for a pachinko parlor. In addition to pachinko game machines and pachislo which are the principal parts of a pachinko parlor, essential facilities include but are not limited to, supplying equipment such as pachinko balls and tokens, game island equipment, calling lamps, equipment to provide information on game machines, pachinko ball and token lending machines, pachinko ball counting machines, surveillance camera systems, prize POS systems, management computers, etc. Furthermore, furnishing various items such as smoke separating boards, air refreshers and battery chargers for mobile phones differentiate your parlor from competitors and various facilities and equipment, such as furniture and fixtures in lounges to improve service for customers, and procuring the prizes to provide are also important. The initial cost for these preparation steps may sometimes total several billion yen.

A pachinko parlor cannot be operated only by developing the physical side of the parlor. Service side preparations, such as the recruitment of staff and training for serving customers, is also required. Among others, the license for an entity or an individual to operate a pachinko parlor at the location needs to be obtained from a public safety commission for opening a pachinko parlor. Moreover, an application for a business license must be filed with a police station with jurisdiction over the location of the pachinko parlor to specify the structure and facilities of the parlor and the methods of operation, etc. A list of employees is also required to be kept. Accordingly, the business license application can be filed only after both the physical store has been completed and the staff and other arrangements have been made.