Fishing Tengu (つり天狗)

Fishing Tengu, made by Sankyo Precision Equipment Company, Ltd. of Tokyo, Japan, is a rare and little-documented electro-mechanical pinball machine that combines a fishing theme with Japanese mythology -- a tengu is a mythical creature from Japanese folklore. The only known image of the game comes from a March 1976 issue of the industry magazine 'The Amusement Sangyo,' and its exact production date is unknown.

Little can be confirmed about Fishing Tengu's gameplay from the surviving photograph: it's unclear whether the game has flippers, and it may feature mechanical backbox animation. A red knob visible on the cabinet front, below the standard ball shooter knob, hints at some additional mechanism whose purpose isn't documented.

Sankyo Precision Equipment Company, also known by its trade name Sankyo Seiki Kabushikigaisha, played a role in Japan's electro-mechanical pinball scene, though its output remains largely overlooked by Western pinball historians. Fishing Tengu, with its distinctive blend of sport and folklore, offers a small but intriguing window into that lesser-known chapter of pinball history.