Japan Outlines Proposed Casino Policy

At the beginning of this year, Japanese pro-casino group legislators announced they were planning to submit a promotional bill to parliament which, if approved, could see casino gambling legalised in the country within two years.
Several months later, and Japanese lawmakers have now finally outlined the major component of its proposed policy, including the establishment of an independent gaming regulator which would oversee all gaming venues across the whole country. In addition, the policy highlights the importance of preventing criminal organisations from infiltrating the gaming market by requiring a strict licensing criteria. As the policy outline states:
“The hurdles to enter the business should be set high. It should not be easy for anyone to get a license and participate in the industry. With proper regulation and enforcement of the law, there is absolutely no reason for casinos to become hotbeds of criminal activity.”
Despite being the world’s third largest economy, the country has been experiencing decades of stagnation since the 1990’s and in recent times Japan has had to reevaluate its attitude towards casino gambling as it appears no longer content to remain a bystander to  the gaming boom currently underway in Asia.
At the heart of the expansion has been China’s impressive economic development, which has also proven a boon to Macau and Singapore, with Japan now hoping to get onboard the bandwagon well in advance of the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2020. Up until now, the only casino type game permitted in Japan is a slot machine known as Pachinko (see photo). However, it is believed that with the addition of casino gambling in Japan, the country’s gambling revenue would be worth around $10 billion each year, making its market  second only to Macau in China ($38bn), and ahead of Las Vegas ($6.2bn) and Singapore ($5.9bn).