RacingBetter News
	Tuesday 9th June 2020

Online Gambling in Japan is On the Rise

William Norman Thompson once pointed out in his book ‘Gambling in America,’ that despite Japan’s small population when compared to the United States of America, the revenue accrued from gambling from both countries are equal. Although in the technical sense of it, Japan is not counted amongst the countries that have any casinos, the nation still has about 22,000 gambling venues offering prized entertainment. When added to a booming market supplying gaming machines and a huge per capita gambling rate higher than that of America. However, the gambling law in Japan is still vague as there is a thin line dividing luck-based games from allowed games of skill.

Laws Regulating Gambling in Japan

The laws regulating gambling in Japan were enacted as far back as 1907. These laws permitted Japanese residents to only place wagers on specific events such as bicycle racing and horse racing. The nation later added boat racing and motorbiking to the list, so there were now a total of four sports on which citizens can place wagers. When we refer to gambling in a broader sense, it goes deeper into the colorful history of Japan, back to the days when a form of the lottery was permitted in the nation. That was in the mid-17th century, but it was stopped in 1842 and later re-established shortly after World War II ended, to generate revenue for the rebuild of the nation’s edifice and beautiful terrain destroyed by nuclear bombs. Toto, the Company that operated the lottery, is the only legitimate online gambling site in Japan. The nation also permitted sports betting in the form of football pools only on the nation’s J-League and the above named four sports. But in spite of the government’s efforts to prevent Japanese players from patronizing offshore casinos, there are no Japanese laws against the act. This has made the Japanese government look into the laws regulating both the landbased and online casinos.

However, news coming out of Japan is that the government of the nation is planning to legalize gambling activities in the nation fully, and this will include granting licenses to all land-based casinos and online casinos. This is done in a bid to raise revenue to take care of the nation’s huge debt crisis. As of October 2013, the Japanese government started taking steps on how to achieve these plans. We continue to keep our fingers crossed on what will eventually become of the gambling industry in Japan in the coming years. For more information on online gambling in Japan, kindly visit Manekinekocasino.com.

Popular Gambling Markets in Japan

As mentioned above, betting is permitted on four public sports in Japan, hence wagering on motorboat racing, motorbike, J-League football, and horse racing is the most popular form of gambling in Japan, as both casual viewers and gamblers take particular interest in these sports. However, there are other forms of gambling activities in the nation, such as the gambling halls.

The gambling halls are not the regular online casinos as we know it, but they do offer the well-known Pachinko to Japanese players. The Pachinko game is just like the slot games. It has a gameplay that comprises of a virtual video game and a pinball machine theme. The mission of the game is to guide a number of ball bearings safely past obstacles like pins. Capture the balls to activate the release of more balls. The balls can also be exchanged for cash prizes and gifts. Although the Pachinko is considered a skilled game that is not prohibited under the laws of Japan, no one can deny the fact that an element of luck features in the game. And this is the similarity that Pachinko shares with slots, but the government won’t admit this.

Mobile betting is also quite popular in Japan, even though the laws technically prohibit it, players can still download and install casino apps on their phones to win huge returns.

Japan’s Gambling Future

With Japan in a huge debt crisis, the nation is in a desperate search for other means of generating revenue to assist in its financial recovery. Many analysts worldwide have projected that it is high time for the Japanese government to change the archaic laws governing gambling in the country and embrace Western-style gambling. Opening up the gambling market in Japan will not only favor the country but also excite the community of players in Japan as well as gaming establishments.