- The Japanese government is calling on foreign countries to block online gambling in Japan
- Online gambling is illegal in Japan, but remains easily accessible
Despite online gambling being illegal in Japan, the East Asia country has a severe addiction to betting via the internet.
Japan only recently legalized casino gambling, though the country’s first gaming resort — MGM Osaka, an $8.9 billion venture — has yet to open. Legal forms of gambling remain limited to pachinko, an arcade-like game, public sports betting on horse and motorsports racing, and provincial lotteries.
Online gambling, banned by Japan’s National Diet, nonetheless remains a thriving marketplace. Japanese people can access an abundance of online casino websites operating from foreign countries like Malta and the Isle of Man.
While Japan’s internet service providers have obliged the government in blocking certain gambling websites, the never-ending and expanding list of illegal iGaming platforms is impossible to fully prohibit.
As a result, Japan’s government in Tokyo is reaching out to major offshore gaming markets and pleading for regulators to order their access in the Land of the Rising Sun to be terminated.
Japan’s Plea
Japan strengthened its anti-online gambling law in June to explicitly preclude websites and apps from offering unregulated gambling and betting within the country. The amending of the Basic Act on Measures Against Gambling additionally increased penalties for those found to operate such illegal gambling businesses.
Since most sites operate from foreign countries, the businesses face long odds of being prosecuted for continuing to allow their products to be accessed within Japan. To better enforce the law, government officials have reportedly reached out to gaming regulators in Canada, Costa Rica, Georgia, Malta, Anjouan, Curacao, the Isle of Man, and Gibraltar to force their registered iGaming operators to stop allowing gamblers from Japan.
VPNs, or virtual private networks, present added concern for Japan. VPNs allow computer users to disguise the true location of their internet access and are commonly used by people in banned iGaming jurisdictions to access legal online casino sites.
Will Japan Field More Casino Bids?
Japan’s Diet authorized up to three casino resorts in 2018. More than seven years later, only one casino is under construction.
The two other casino permits haven’t been issued. In June, Casino.org reported on rumors that the country would soon open a second round of bidding, with prefectures first needing to express their candidacy to host a multibillion-dollar integrated resort casino.
Aside from Osaka, the only other bid Japan received was from the Nagasaki Prefecture. Casinos Austria presented a more than $3 billion scheme for a large-scale resort casino at the Huis Ten Bosch Dutch theme park in Sasebo. In December 2023, Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism rejected the bid on financing concerns.
Japan once had the attention of the world’s largest casino operators, including Las Vegas Sands, Caesars Entertainment, Wynn Resorts, and Melco Resorts. Japan’s painstakingly slow legislative process to finalize its governing rules led to most operators folding on the forthcoming market.
Japan placed an entrance fee on Japanese people to access the casinos. Anyone living in the country is charged ¥6,000 (US$41) for 24 hours of access. The toll is designed to limit problem gambling.
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