Will Online Casinos and Sports Books Ever Become Mainstream in Japan’s Market?

Similar to many conservative countries, online gambling in Japan is a grey area. The country has some of the strictest and most conservative laws that govern their society, so it is not surprising that many of its citizens see gambling as immoral. It led to them establishing laws that outrightly banned many forms of gambling in the country. Interestingly, for many years, they only had a few gambling activities classified as amusements deemed legal in the country and solely operated by the Japanese government. Till recent years, even land-based casinos were under the illegal forms of gambling, but thanks to new amendments to the country’s law, that has changed, and its online counterpart could soon become legal as well.

The Journey So Far

Gambling in Japan stands in a grey area. Unlike some countries where all forms of gambling are acceptable, Japan has some acceptable gambling activities and others that are not. Until recent years, the only gambling activities that are legal in Japan include betting on races, lottery, toto (football pools), and the famous Pachinko.

Like the rest of the world, the Japanese government saw the casino industry's exponential growth in Macau and Singapore. Seeing that the Japanese market also has a huge potential, the government started considering getting a piece of the casino industry to help them drive up their revenue.

Thanks to the Japanese Integrated Resort (IR) Promotion Law and the IR Implementation Law implemented in 2016 and 2018, the operation of land-based casinos is no longer illegal in Japan. The only condition is that under these implemented laws, all gaming activities will be overseen by the government-licensed casino business operators within the IR as a complex mixture of facilities. These facilities will include accommodation facilities, recreational facilities, tourist facilities, convention centers, and casinos. Currently, plans have been made to establish casino resorts in various cities in the country, but due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the schedule has been substantially delayed.

Possibility of Online Gaming Presence

Many people believed that due to Japan's strict conservative nature, they would never change their stance on land-based casinos, but surprisingly, they did. Experts believe that since the recent changes in legislation in Japan have brought about plans to open up casino resorts in the country, there is hope that online casinos and sportsbooks will soon become accepted. Unfortunately, it is still explicitly illegal for online casinos to be established from within Japan, so, residents won't be playing on a Japanese online casino for a while.

Due to the illegality of playing online casinos from within Japan, many citizens and residents are turning to foreign sites. However, this could be subjected to prosecution. In 2016, some residents who used foreign online casino services were arrested and prosecuted for committing the act of gambling. Again, in 2017, there was a case where a suspected user of offshore casino services was investigated but was not later charged for any wrongdoing.

Still, many residents are going to offshore sites to play their favorite games every day. Online casino operators are not blind to Japan's gaming market's untapped potential, which is why many new casinos are accepting players from Japan. This is not only limited to online casinos. Since there are no legal online sportsbooks in Japan, residents are already turning to foreign sports betting sites to place bets on their favorite sports.

Japan’s Legal Online Gambling

Just like physical gambling in Japan, not all forms of online gambling are banned. Since online presence will make things much more convenient, there are platforms where residents can play games or bet on legalized races. One such game is the popular Pachinko, which is a national obsession in Japan. And race betting on bicycle races, horse races, motorboat races, motorcycle races, and the professional J-League football betting (Toto) is available online.

Potential of Online Gaming

Experts have predicted that the Japanese gambling market has the potential of growing to become one of the world's largest. Some even say that it could probably even beat Macau. They based all these on the evident success of the legally acceptable form of gambling present in the country and citizens' growing interest in the i-gaming industry. Talking about Japan’s legal gambling, all the legal forms of gambling allowed and strictly controlled by the government have earned incredible amounts. Plus, the popular and widely played slot-like game, Pachinko, amounts to over 20 trillion Japanese yen every year. Now imagine that all forms of online gambling, including casinos and sports betting, are legalized, the potential yield will be tremendous.

Experts believe that if gambling is fully legalized in Japan, the gain will far outweigh many other countries', and online casinos and sports betting sites are huge aspects of this estimate. In terms of online gambling, the Japanese market is still a fresh and untapped market. With the potential of being the third-largest online gaming market, technology, investment, and demand that would foster rapid growth. All that is left is the freedom and flexible laws to utilize a billion-dollar industry to boost its economy.

Author: Bright Elemeje