Gambling Is Now Legal in Japan BUT Here's What You Need to Know

In recent months the legalization of gambling in Japan has led to a greater number of people looking into what these new laws entail. Is gambling to be made legal in casinos only or will online gamers have the same privileges as they would whenvisitinga land-based casino? Oddly, it isn’t quite clear at this time what the differences will be. Here’s what we know so far.

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Many Citizens Don’t Favor Land-Based Casinos

According to the Wall Street Journal, a well-respected US news publication, a survey conducted in July showed that as many as 62% of those responding stated that they opposed the opening of land-based casinos. There were several reasons listed but the greatest worry is how gambling will affect crime rates in local areas near where the casinos are to be built. For this reason, most Japanese residents prefer an online Japanese casino which would have no impact on local and/or organized crimes one way or the other.

Three Large Casinos Approved

The legislation of 2018 allows for the construction of three large casinos, or casino resorts, which will not see a grand opening for several more years. It is estimated that land-based casino resorts will be open for business sometime in the early to mid-2020s. These resorts will feature world class restaurants, hotels, theatres and even shopping malls. These will be modelled after grand resorts in Las Vegas and will be Japan’s efforts to be a major competitor to other Asian countries like China. Currently casinos in Macau and Singapore arebringing in a huge amount of business which Japan hopes to capture.

The Down Side Yet Unexplored

For the Japanese people who hope to play at these new casinos when they open, there is a down side to finally getting a chance to wage a legal bet on games like poker and roulette. That downside would be that they will be charged a hefty ‘entrance fee’ (tax, if you will) every time they want to step inside the doors. Foreign nationals will fare far better because they will not be taxed. Marketing will probably be heavily focused on foreign nationals visiting Japan but it is still in the early days, so much is yet to be seen.

Japanese Nationals Still Favor Online Casinos

According the survey referenced above, the Japanese will probably still favor online casinos where they can play many more games than they’d likely find in a land-based casino. They wouldn’t be open to the scrutiny of friends, neighbors and business acquaintances if gambling behind closed doors and this anonymity is what Japanese gamers most desire.

While the Japanese government hasn’t legalized online gambling, they don’t pursue those who frequent online casinos. The laws pertaining to online gambling mainly deal with those online casinos seeking to operate from Japan. Japanese gamers frequent a huge number of online casinos from other countries around the world and have not had government interfering with their penchant for playing amazing digital games, many of which were (oddly enough!) based on video games developed in Japan. In the end, it will be interesting to follow Japanese gambling laws and restrictions as they unfold.