Osaka, Feb 15 Several men and women in Japan, a country known for its workaholic people, are getting addicted to online gambling, recent reports have cited.
In 2024, Japanese police initiated legal action against 279 people, many unaware that internet gambling is illegal even if an online casino is operating legally overseas, for using online casinos.
According to preliminary government data, this number is the highest on record and more than twice reported earlier, Japan's Kyodo News reported.
"Police have been able to track down more users of online gambling sites by looking at the bank accounts of the businesses handling bets in Japan, an investigative source said. But the source added the data represents 'only a small fraction of the real figure', with the number of online casino gamblers estimated at three million," the report mentioned.
According to a survey done by Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare in 2017, 3.6 per cent of Japanese adults, equivalent to about 3.2 million people, have suffered from gambling problems at some point in their lifetime. In Japan, the act of gambling is illegal except if it is publicly run, such as horse racing and keirin cycle racing. A 2018 integrated resort law provided an exception to casino games such as poker or baccarat at officially-approved establishments as part of an effort to attract tourists.
A Tokyo-based international casino research institute conducted a survey on 6,000 men and women in Japan in August and September and found that 2.8 per cent of the respondents had gambled using online casinos in the past 12 months, which means that about 3.46 million people are estimated to have gambled online, reported leading daily Japan News.
Reports cited that among those who are suspected of gambling addiction, about 80 per cent say that Pachinko, a pinball-like arcade game, is the main source of their addiction. It is portrayed as an amusement activity rather than gambling in Japan. The government struggles to deal with the problem because Japanese gambling law defines Pachinko as not a form of gambling and is a major source of tax revenue in the country.
In 2023, Japan approved a plan to build the country's first gambling resort in Osaka 2029 aimed at attracting domestic and international tourists.
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