Japan to Bet on Online Gambling

Far East locations such as Singapore and Macau are gambling havens. Other countries in the region, such as Japan and China have banned the practice for decades. However, there appears to be a movement towards deregulation.

Painful History
During the Edo period (1603-1868), Japanese society experienced great trauma through its open gambling policy. Many Japanese ended up selling their daughters into slavery to pay off their gambling debts. As a result, in the late 19^th century, Japan decided to make the practice of open gambling illegal.

Boom and Bust
Following the Second World war, Japan experienced rapid growth, and the government's coffers swelled from tax revenues. However, since the early 1990s, an economic downturn has persuaded government officials to look for new sources of funds. One of these is the potential tax income from legalizing online and land-based gambling.

A Nationof Gamblers
Traditionally, Japanese people have been keen gamblers. In spite of the government ban on casinos, other ways of having a flutter do exist. These include horse, motor car, and bicycle racing where gambling is permitted. Additionally, parlor games such as Mah Jong and Pachinko are officially sanctioned. However, these activities bring little tax revenue to the government.

Yakuza
In spite of the official government ban on gambling, many illicit casinos do exist, particularly in the red lights district of Tokyo. These small casinos are normally housed in bars and seedy massage parlors, but feed the gambling needs of local and visiting businessmen to the area. Controlled by Japan's infamous mafia or Yakuza, these organizations would have much to lose if casino gambling became legalized.

Gold Mine
Many Japanese officials and businessmen believe that legalizing casino gambling would produce a potential gold mine. Conservative estimates put tax revenues at around 1 billion US dollars just to build six public casinos at the Japanese seaside resort of Obaida alone. With the increase in tax income and potential knock-on effect to increased tourism, the question is not if the Japanese government will open the doors to online and land-based gambling, but when.