Japan Wants to Toughen Laws Against Online Gambling, Casinos

Japan’s relationship with gambling is tenuous at best. The country has historically been open to the influences of gambling, and in the period after World War II, a ravaged and destitute country turned to gambling for solace, and even the means to acquire wealth and social status.

Fast forward to the 21^st century, and gambling is a much more sensitive issue. The country is now looking to crack down on illegal gambling and has brought charges against several comedians who have used illegal online casinos to gamble.

Japan’s Gambling Numbers Continue to Increase

Their crime isn’t particularly shocking as millions of people in Japan are using unlicensed online casinos to this end, but the fact remains that the government is trying to amp up its efforts against the sector, and it is not past targeting individual it seems, especially those high-profile cases that would attract the most attention.

Part of the reason why the government is stepping up is that, although gambling is illegal in Japan, some forms of it persisted right up to the pandemic.

However, mask mandates and isolation requirements shuttered even those limited slivers of additional revenue opportunity that Japan had its hands in, prompting a stiffer enforcement action from authorities who are now keen to dismantle the newly-emerged and highly-popular phenomenon of online casinos in the country.

As many as 3.4 million to 3.7 million people may be betting on online casinos, argues the National Police Agency, which is trying to keep tabs on the levels of online engagement. These people have withdrawn from activities such as government-run lotteries and horse and bicycle tracks during the pandemic, and they have largely kept their newfound habits.

Young people are also increasingly turning to online gambling, which is another reason for the government to pursue a more determined approach towards the sector.

The Public Unaware of the Illegal Status of Online Casinos

Unlike in other jurisdictions where people who gamble with unregulated websites is an offense in theory, but it’s never pursued by the courts, Japan is changing tack and looking to make an example out of the people who gamble, starting with those high-profile cases.

According to local media sources, the Japanese are “shockingly” unaware of the fact that gambling at an online casino is, illegal, but this is not entirely people’s fault in the first place. As Makoto Watanabe, a professor of communications and media at Hokkaido Bunkyo University in Eniwa, Hokkaido, puts it, it’s just too easy to find these websites in the first place.

The fact that comedians and baseball players were unaware of their illegality also points to a deeply rooted lack of awareness about the dangers of illegal gambling. With Japan barely starting to address the issue, online casinos are not likely to stop proliferating in the Land of the Rising Sun.