Stories that land

Eight People, Two Tables: A Meal with Hayashi

Hayashi of Nagomido recalls going out to eat with a group of eight. Everyone settled in at two tables of four and started talking.

A meal with Hayashi

In this story, Japanese comedian Hayashi of Nagomido recalls a meal with seven other people. Pachinko comes up in the conversation: it’s a Japanese game played for prizes on machines that use small metal balls.

Four at each table

I’m Hayashi from Nagomido.

Eight of us went out to eat, and we split into two tables of four. At my table, we were talking about ghosts. Where they showed up, where they didn’t. At the other table, they were talking about pachinko. Which places paid out, which ones didn’t.

Now, one of the guys at my table worked at a pachinko parlor. Someone at the other table asked him:

“Hey, do you get anything at your place?”

The guy had been talking about ghosts, so he said:

“We don’t get anything at our place!”

“Whoa, you can just come right out and say that?”

“Well, we keep little piles of salt by the entrance.”

“So places with salt by the entrance don’t get anything?”

“Nope.”

“And you’re allowed to tell people that?”

“Sure, why not? It’s better if we don’t get any. We’d be in trouble if we did.”

“You might be fine with that, but your manager’s going to have a problem with it.”

“Huh?”

Front view of a pachislot machine, a Japanese slot machine, with bells, red 7s, and watermelons on its reels. Three red 7s line up across the middle row, and red emphasis lines surround the machine.
Text in the illustration:777 → 777

Editor’s note: The wording and the salt

In Japanese, the same verb, deru (出る), can describe ghosts appearing or pachinko machines paying out. The English dialogue leaves “anything” and “any” unspecified to carry that ambiguity.

The little piles of salt are called morijio (盛り塩). Placing them by the entrance to a home or business is a custom associated with warding off evil and bringing good luck.

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