One of the main points that prompt the IR supporters for legalizing casinos through the integrated resorts is that they believe that it will boost Japan’s tourism. Some say that it will be the second biggest gambling market, next to Macau and these assumptions do not include the online or “onrainkajino” sectors.

but nowadays, online casino(オンラインカジノ) is becoming more popular in Japan, if you are interested in online casino. do not forget to sign up for インターカジノ

Based on the Travel and Tourism Competitiveness of 2017, it ranked fourth out of 141 countries and also the best in Asia. Which is not surprising as Japan is home to 21 World Heritage which includes the Himeji Castle, Historic Monuments of Historic Kyoto and Nara.

Other popular tourist attractions are Mount Fuji, the network of hot springs and Sakura or cherry blossoms during springtime. Japan has also gained high scores in almost all aspects, particularly safety and security, cultural resources and business travel.

As a country, popularly called “The Land of the Rising Sun”, Japan with its remarkable culture and its picturesque landscape is truly a famous tourist destination.

The Japan National Tourism Organization reported that Japan welcomed nearly 16 million international visitors in the first half of 2018. The government are banking on the prospect that the lure of casinos in the integrated resorts will give another boost to this already remarkable numbers.

Land Minister Keiichi Ishii said that they will use Japan’s culture, history and other attractions in order to attain world-class quality integrated resorts that would attract tourists from around the world.

Lack of Interest

But a survey conducted in 2017 by the oppositions shows the lack of interest in the foreign market in Japan’s casinos. The survey asked residents from South Korea, France, United Kingdom, China and 8 other countries and regions which facilities inside the integrated resorts they would mostly visit in Japan.

Results showed that only 7% likely go to casinos, while 46% will go to shopping malls, 43% will go to hotels and 40 chose theme parks.

Will Attract More Locals

Furthermore, research done by private and municipal sectors shows that Japanese residents will represent a more significant number of clienteles for the integrated resorts rather than foreign nationals.

This also proves that there is substantial cause for concern of gambling addiction among the Japanese. This is despite the measures that the government are taking to address such a problem.

With several surveys showing that the majority of the expected clientele of the IR casinos will be from the locals themselves, gambling addiction is truly a major concern. According to the Nikell poll, 53% of the Japanese are opposed to this law even after it was passed by the National Diet.

Conflict of Interest

The opposition even argues that the government are prioritizing the expected profit from the casinos over the people’s welfare.

As the frameworks for the building of casinos are being placed, critics indicated that such a system would provide an opportunity for customers to loan money and will encourage them to spend more.

In their opinion, such a system will encourage the desire of gamblers who have already lost large amounts of money to spend more in the hopes that they would win in the end.

Problem Gambling

But most likely, the only things that they would likely achieve are to succumb to addiction to gambling or accumulate more debts.

More Gambling Opportunities

Another point for their argument is the removal of 15,000 m² casino floor area limit. This was changed and the restriction will be that casinos will be allowed to occupy up to 3% of the integrated resort’s floor space.

This would mean that the larger the IR, the larger the casino will be and in turn, more gamblers will be accommodated.

Once these licenses are in place and the first integrated resort opens its doors, the operator will have to cough up as much as 30% of the profit and pay it to the local government. Government is arguing that the new laws can boost tourism and bring money in the country.

The opposition is, however, stating that the number of operators will have to pay to the local government might be used for an expected backlash of legalization of gambling. They are questioning whether this cut will be enough? As the finalization of the plans for these casinos is taking place, the government should reflect, is it really worth the bet?

According to the Criminal Code of Japan, gambling is illegal. However, there are many exceptions to this law, such as horse racing, motorsports, lottery and other public sports. With the emergence of smartphones, online betting also became a possibility.

The most common way to gamble in Japan is through playing pachinko. Playing pachinko is not considered as gambling because of its cultural reasons.

It is played liked a slot ball machine, but instead of money prizes there are awards like tokens that can be exchanged by cash or used in certain stores.

In this way, players will earn money without the danger of legal sanctions because as long as money is not awarded in the pachinko parlor the law will not be violated

Decreasing Statistics

According to the Ministry of Health’s survey last 2017, 3.6% of the adult Japanese are problem gamblers, that is an estimated 3.2 million Japanese, though it should also be noted that a similar survey in 2014 showed that roughly 5% or 5.4 M Japanese adults were addicted to gambling.

This clearly shows that the number of problem gamblers is decreasing. But with the legalization of casinos, these numbers will surely increase as the promise of winning large sums of money will tempt these people to start gambling again.

Airtight Regulations to Monitor Gambling
For their part, the Japanese government are crafting regulations to address this problem by limiting the number of times a Japanese resident may enter a casino facility and by implementing an entrance fee.

However, critics are saying that this is not enough as there is no scientific evidence to prove that these methods will keep the gamblers in check and will avoid other Japanese to become addicted to gambling.

One major concern the new gambling law in Japan has brought about is the possible involvement of the Yakuza groups in Japan. Yakuza is a version of Italian mafias or the organized criminal organization in Japan. They are considered as the most sophisticated and wealthiest criminal organizations.

These groups are known to have involvement in shady businesses such as drugs, loan sharking, protection money and the sex industry.

The Yakuza are regarded as semi-legitimate organizations as they help the Japanese residents during disaster reliefs, provides protection to businesses and they also help the police in reducing the crime in their areas of operation.

However, it does not erase the fact that their use of force and violence, as well as the dark side of their business, will always be an issue against them.

Preventive Measures

According to the recommendations issued by the International Gaming Institute of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, the Japanese government should undertake measures to keep this criminal group out from the casino operations.

Regulate Resort Owners

They also recommend for Japan to strictly investigate the personal and financial background of the resort owners and executives involved in the creation of casinos in order to ensure that members of the yakuza and their affiliates will be excluded.

This should be done in order to attract investors without fear of the ramifications and dangers of organized crimes which the yakuza involvement will bring.

Based on an interview, a senior member of a yakuza group claims that their leaders are already planning to be involved in the construction of the casinos, provide loans to gamblers and even infiltrate the casinos to work as dealers to ensure that certain gamblers won.