Japan Makes Online Casino Gambling Illegal
In an escalation of their tough stance toward casino gambling, Japan’s police and various government agencies issued warnings of illegality against using online casinos. The move is a significant step as there were previously many grey zones that members of the public in Japan could still operate within. This week’s warning comes in-step with the announcement from the National Police Agency, and the Consumer Affairs Agency who issued their joint statement.
The Pachinko parlors in Japan are widespread across the country, and they offer a legal way for players to participate in gambling like games whilst remaining within the scope of the law. ©xegxef/Pixabay
The strategy adopted by the government in this case has drawn plenty of attention from across the population given the seriousness of the repercussions it outlines. The statement addresses that there is a common misconception amongst citizens in Japan that accessing online casino sites hosted overseas is legal – and that this is in fact not correct. The National Police Agency of Japan, and the Consumer Affairs Agency have the power to arrest online casino users in Japan, and they will start to increase their attention to controlling this behavior if it is deemed to be growing.
In the written warning campaign, the authors provide a couple of examples for readers of two citizens that didn’t heed the previous warnings and are now facing very difficult circumstances. The first person connected to a gambling site hosted overseas from their home in Japan and played blackjack against a dealer, they were later arrested for this simple crime. Another example states that an individual who provided someone with access to a gambling site hosted overseas was arrested for habitual gambling offenses.
According to Japanese law, the punishment for participating in online gambling is in excess of $3,000, or up to three years in prison. Whilst these are still early days of Japan’s gambling laws there haven’t yet been a large number of arrests. The total number of prosecuted persons in Japan rose to 18 in 2019, and in 2020 there were just 16 for gambling crimes related to the use of online casinos.
What Types of Gambling are Legal in Japan?
Whilst the laws on online gambling are quite clearly defined, there are legal ways for people to gamble in Japan. One such legally grey-zoned activity is known as Pachinko. The Pachinko parlors are widespread across Japan, and house slot-machine style games that players can participate on. The games look and feel like regular electronic gambling machines, and they do offer a non-direct way for players to gamble real money.
The Pachinko machines only accept vouchers and dispense vouchers as rewards for playing. The thing is, in Japan these vouchers do in-fact have a real value and are highly liquid. The vouchers can of course be exchanged for cash at a whim, and this type of process allows people to invest in vouchers purely for the purpose of gambling. The vouchers are in effect a separate currency that can be used for gambling. Quite how or why the law still accommodates this ecosystem is mysterious.
Another separate gambling ecosystem that exists legally in Japan is the integrated resort. Integrated resorts are essentially huge hotel and leisure complexes that house conference centers, restaurants, arenas, and casinos. They can access a privileged type of casino license that allows them to run casinos on Japanese soil. The thing about these places though is that they only allow casino entry to international clients. There strictly not allowed to permit Japanese citizens inside the venues in the majority of cases.
It’s quite clear what the objectives of the integrated resort ecosystem is. They’re designed to prop up the finances of the government and attempt to extract as much money as possible from foreign tourists, particularly wealthy business elites that will visit the resort venues to attend conferences and other business meetings. The strategy is certainly working, and the Japanese integrated resort projects have begun to expand, popping up in a few major population hubs across Japan.
