Japanese Parliament passes bill to lift ban on casinos
Posted
Japan has taken the first step towards legalising casinos.
Key points:
- Legalising casinos has been a long-held ambition of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe
- Japanese are active gamblers and play a game called Pachinko
- There will not be a casino in Japan until at least 2023, analysts say
A bill to lift a ban on casinos has passed through the Lower House of the Japanese Parliament and is due to go to the Government-controlled Upper House tomorrow.
Legalising casinos has been a long-held ambition of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who believes casinos would be a magnet for wealthy Chinese tourists and a boon for the sluggish economy.
But a newspaper poll taken on the weekend shows that not everyone agrees with the Prime Minister — with 57 per cent of respondents opposed to the legislation.
Professor of Sociology at Otani University, Naoko Takiguchi, said she has spent many years opposing the Government's moves to introduce casinos because of Japan's high rate of problem gamblers.
"The Health Ministry has announced that almost 5 per cent of adults have a gambling problem. That's a big number," she said.
"The lowest is in Denmark, which is about 0.5 per cent, and it's less than 1 per cent in Europe.
"Five per cent is an unusually high figure."
Although casinos have been illegal, the Japanese are active gamblers — they play a game similar to a poker machine, called Pachinko.
The Pachinko industry is said to generate about $US200 billion every year.
'Doubtful' regulation to protect problem gamblers will happen
Professor Takiguchi said she does not trust the Government to introduce a system of regulation to protect problem gamblers.
"Japan hasn't carried out any prevention measures for gambling until now and suddenly they're saying they'll do it if they can build a casino?" she said.
"Why aren't they proposing any measures now? They haven't been doing it and they have no intention of doing it. So it's doubtful if anything will happen."
A number of global casino companies are circling in the water, eager to take a piece out of the lucrative Japanese gambling market.
James Packer's company Melco Crown has expressed interest in operating in Japan and would need to apply for a licence to operate a casino.
It is likely that Japanese casinos would be jointly operated by a Japanese operator and an overseas casino company.
But the casino doors will not be swinging open just yet with analysts saying there will not be a casino in Japan until at least 2023.
Topics: government-and-politics, world-politics, gambling, community-and-society, japan, asia
