Modern technologies, the Shibuya crossings, the rich culinary culture, and Miyazaki and Murakami are just a few of the many images that typify Japan. While the country is always full of surprises and offers a lot to discover in many different fields, it is still a lesser-known fact that Japan is a gambling giant.
Japan’s Lesser Known Side As A Gambling Giant
Walking the streets of Tokyo, you may frequently run into noisy pachinko parlors, which are pinball-risque gambling games that are unique to Japan. There are also many gambling-themed manga and anime series, and, in fact, Japan has one of the largest horse racing markets in the world. It is fair to say that Japan has a unique gambling culture that differs from Western countries.
On the other hand, Japan’s Gambling Law makes gambling strictly illegal in the country, with a few exceptions such as horse and bicycle races, which are publicly run. In the past, there have been multiple scandals with sports gambling and illegal casinos that drew quite significant attention. So there is quite a strong sentiment against illegal gambling overall in the society, which seems a bit contradictory with their strong interest in some of the gambling that were mentioned earlier. Especially with the Gambling Law enacted more than 150 years ago, it obviously doesn’t take modern technologies such as the internet and smartphones on which most of the modern-day gambling takes place into account.
Massive Increase of Online Casino Users During the Corona Pandemic
In recent years, online gambling, namely online casinos and sports betting has become increasingly popular in many countries. Japan is no exception to this, particularly during the Corona pandemic. There was even a report stating that the monthly access to online casinos from Japan jumped from approximately 700,000 in December 2018 to 83 million in September 2021.
These online casinos are usually offshore brands based in overseas regions and with foreign licenses. Many of these casino brands often operate globally with pages in multiple languages. Several bookmakers accept access from Japan, including internationally known brands like Bet365 and Stake.
First Legal Land Casino To Open In the Late 2020s
In the meantime, Japan’s first land casino is scheduled to open on Yumenoshina Island in Osaka by 2029, based on the Act on Development of Specified Integrated Resort Districts that came into force in 2018. This is a joint venture between the international casino veteran MGM and a local financial corporation Orix, along with the Osaka IR Corporation. The casino’s main target is international visitors, and once the project is complete, the site is projected to attract 200 million visitors annually with 2,500 hotel rooms, 730,000 square feet of MICE space, and tourism facilities.
While there are significant differences in terms of characteristics and technologies between land casinos and online casinos, the general interest in casinos and gambling is indeed escalating nowadays. And to set the situation straight, the Police Department is cracking down on online casinos more and more enthusiastically. Between 2023 and 2024, there have been multiple arrest cases of parties around online betting sites such as payment agents, and influencers who live-streamed themselves playing online casinos were arrested one after another. More recently in September 2024, three were arrested over alleged laundering of money from an illegal online casino.
On the other hand, offshore operators have so far escaped the police due to difficulties in accessing information, but recently there have been reports that the Japanese National Police Agency plans to investigate such offshore operations.
Sports Betting As A Potential New Sports Entertainment?
Sports betting, on the other hand, which is counted within the same iGaming category, may follow a different path to that of casinos. To this day, sports betting has never had a significant presence in Japanese society, and terms such as bookmaking are still not that common in Japan.
However, Japan has some amazing local sports leagues, including the world’s best professional baseball league, football leagues, and volleyball leagues, and many Japanese players are active in European leagues, particularly in football.
In addition to ‘watching’ and ‘playing’, bookmakers often sponsor football clubs in European leagues, and in Japan, bookmakers are gaining social recognition in recent years as a new form of sports entertainment, and it would not be surprising if serious discussions towards legalization were to begin.
