Why Is Gambling Illegal In Japan

Japan legalized casino gambling and cleared the way for three casino resorts, giving companies such as Las Vegas Sands and MGM Resorts International their first chance to open in the country.
Many places outside of Japan make gambling entirely illegal so it isn't likely that fans who only dabble in anime would even think that such a genre exists if they weren't familiar with that aspect of Japanese culture. It's also more likely that fans within the country would also be drawn to the gambling aspect if they themselves love to gamble.

Straight, ordinary gambling is illegal in Japan. Instead, people turn to Pachinko, a game that is a cross between pinball and slot machines. Players shoot a stream of silver balls through pins. If the balls land in the correct spot, the player will receive additional balls to shoot.

Published Thursday, Sep. 3, 2020, 9:18 am

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By Takuma Tanaka

If you are a resident of Japan, chances are you know that gambling is not legal in the country. However, the question remains. Should we strive to get gambling legalized in Japan? What would be the pros and cons of doing this? What steps can the government take to ensure that its citizens will be able to get the major entertainment value that gambling can provide?

If you want to find out the answers to these questions, read this article as soon as possible. We will try to give you some of the most pertinent information about gambling in Japan and how it is continually progressing at present.

Gambling in Japan: The History

Officially speaking, gambling in this part of the world is still considered legal and has been considered illegal since 1907. By the end of the Meiji era, many official casinos have popped up in this side of the world. In particular, these casinos reside in Tokyo and outside of the city.

Fast forward to 2016, the Japanese government and prime minister Shinzo Abe has passed a law that could turn the tide and make them illegal in the future. Japanese residents and other tourists who are fond of gambling would have to wait until at least nine years in 2025 before the law takes effect in full.

This year small gambling associations have already started to penetrate the Japanese economy. Some speculate that more Japanese casinos will open before the 2020 Olympics which can accommodate the influx of tourists that will come for the games.

Legal Gambling Games in Japan

As of press time, there are some legal gambling games that have already started to gain traction in popularity within the country as the integrated resort industry grows. These are as follows:

The Lottery Games

With this particular type of game, you can expect a much greater chance of winning. All you have to do is buy a lottery ticket from any participating store and scratch the surface. When it reveals similar characters in one row or column, you’ll win the prize.

Pachinko

Essentially, this particular type of game works like a slot machine. Instead of waiting for cash prizes, you will get to win gift certificates and vouchers that you can use to get products from participating retail stores around the metro. This is essentially done to circumvent the strict Japanese laws against gambling.

Racing Games

This is one of the most lawful ways to gamble in Japan. Whether you prefer a horse racing event or bicycle and car races, you can place your bets and hope to win any of these contests. Tourism and tax can promote these games. The good thing about this is that you don’t have to worry about the police getting in your tail because of participation.

All you have to do is place your bet enjoy the game.

Exploring the Online Gambling Industry in Japan

In terms of online gaming, this is where the line blurs. Japanese laws have strict rules against physical gambling institutions. However, online games of any nature are complete and legal in the country. Perhaps this is because the introduction of mobile gaming technology in Japan came in quite late.

The good news is that you don’t even have to leave the comfort of your own home to enjoy them. If you are fond of online gambling, there are many websites that can accommodate players from Japan and other countries as well. You just have to do a little bit of research to find them.

A great examples of online gaming portals that you can visit for entertainment you can find thanks to reviews on bitcoin casino. One advantage you can have with bitcoin casinos is that it is safe and secure to use. You wouldn’t have to think about being hacked once you login and play.

As traveling to Japan can be quite enjoyable, chances are you won’t even want to sit around in front of your computer to play in an online casino anyway. You would want to explore anything and everything that you would like to see in the country before you leave.

The Main Reason for Legalization

Gambling both in physical and online casinos can definitely give players a way to relax and properly enjoy themselves without any inhibitions. It provides entertainment and the diversion of retired professionals who may want to have some time to themselves after a hard day’s work.

Why should we consider legalizing gambling as a whole? Isn’t there another way to pass the time without having to spend too much money? Yes, there is. However, as part of the social and economic freedoms that can be afforded to any citizen by its government, the governing entity shouldn’t dictate how people get to spend their own hard-earned cash.

Conclusion

This is why gambling should already be legalized in Japan as soon as possible. It will not only be good for the people in terms of entertainment, it can also be good for the economy because many tourists will be able to travel to Japan and enjoy themselves while still allowing the Japanese government to make a sizable amount of revenue from any and all casinos that may pop up once gambling becomes legal in the country.

Once the Japanese government realizes the benefits of gambling, they will certainly be able to provide a safe and secure environment for those interested individuals to play in. Fortunately, gambling is already slowly being introduced in Japanese mainstream media. It’s only a matter of time before everything falls into place for legalization.

Why Is Gambling Illegal In Japan Now

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Last Updated: December 15, 2016 – Today, legislation passed to legalize land-based casinos in Japan; a huge victory for the country. Experts are predicting their casino gambling market to be a $40 billion. Their original goal was to get this passed in 2014 and have several casinos built before the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo to capitalize on the tourist boom that comes with such a large world-wide event. But, that did not happen and it’s too late for the casinos to be constructed in time for the Olympic Games.

Gambling and sport betting are both very popular in Japan, though only certain forms are lawful. Specifically, the forms authorized are lottery, scratch cards, pari-mutuel betting on horse racing, keirin (bicycle racing), powerboat racing (kyōtei), and autorace (motorcycles), and soccer toto wagers on J-League. All other forms are prohibited under Chapter 23 of the Japanese Penal Code. A huge population of Japanese people still bet, and they bet BIG, but they do it online primarily at Bet365.com. This site is known to take ‘frowned upon’ Asian bets, like from India.

While the penalties for unlawful betting are harsh, the law is rarely enforced. Nonetheless, a first offense for participating as a player is a petty fine not exceeding ¥500,000. Repeat offenders can be imprisoned up to 3-years.

To show an example of how the law is not enforced, I start this article by discussing pachinko. I then discuss online betting from Japan and finally conclude with vast details regarding of our many legal forms of gambling. The goal of this article is to be the most complete guide to Gambling in Japan.

Pachinko Gambling is Widespread

There are no legal casinos in Japan. However, what we do have is pachinko parlours. These are similar to arcade games found elsewhere in the world that are popular with adolescents playing games to win tickets and then redeeming them for prizes. Here by law you must be age 18+ to play and the machines are used strictly for gambling. The video below explains in English how pachinko works.

Places similar to the one showed in the video are available all over the country – to the tune of perhaps almost 15,000 pachinko parlours nationwide. These are allowed under the law as an amusement, but gambling on them is banned. Despite this, as shown in the video, the balls won are redeemable for prizes or tokens. Those redeeming tokens take them to an offsite location for cash payment.

Though gambling pachinko is illegal, how the system works is common knowledge and is mostly ignored by the police. According to Wikipedia Entry: Pachinko a parlour in Kanagawa prefecture had their tokens counterfeited and redeemed. Upon calling the police and admitting to having an illegal redemption centre, the police did nothing to the parlour and only worked to track the thief.

Pachinko gambling is a big money business. About 8-years ago (in 2005), the government estimated annual pachinko gambling volume had reached ¥29 trillion (US$378 billion). This is triple the amount of all legal gambling in Japan combined including lottery, horse racing, soccer toto and public sport. This should about tell you about what you need to know regarding our gambling law.

Why Is Gambling Illegal In Japan Compared

We have many underground casinos, local bookies and card games. Even with poker illegal, the Everest Poker Japan Cup was held here n 2007, and the All-Japan Poker Championship was co-organized by a local newspaper. Online gambling is also widespread. The laws are on the books, but little is done to go after casual gamblers. In the rare times action is taken, it is only a petty fine for the first offense.

Online Betting in Japan

The Japanese government allows online betting for lottery, soccer toto, and public sport. However, this is only for pari-mutuel betting with the official channels. For those interesting in betting fixed odds, making in-play wagers, or playing casino, poker or bingo this is possible using foreign betting sites. For example, at www.bet365.com it is possible to open an account using a Japanese home address. You can also keep your account balance in Japanese Yen. From this website you can wager sports, horse races, online poker, casino and bingo and much more.

For sports betting, the wagering options are many. Bet365 offers betting on nearly every sports league and sport played around the world. This includes Japanese sports. Odds on J-League (J1), J-League division 2 (J2), Nabisco Cup, Emperors Cup and Super Cup soccer are available. You can also find NPB baseball betting and even JB League and JBL League basketball.

The one sport they don’t cover enough of is Japanese volleyball. If you are interested in betting Japan V-Premiere League or any competition our national team participates in I suggest www.bwin.com. They as well as William Hill, Blue Square, and countless other UK based companies have online betting in Japanese Yen (JPY).

Why Is Gambling Illegal In Japanese

These gambling sites clearly display the available deposit and withdrawal options for Japan. It is possible to deposit in Japanese yen (JPY) using your VISA, MasterCard credit card or VISA Electron debit card via the online e-wallet Skrill. Other e-wallets supported in Japan include NETELLER, EntroPay, and Click2Pay.

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