U.S. casino giants bet on Japan, raising addiction fears

As part of efforts to tackle addiction, residents of Japan will be charged a 6,000 yen entrance fee for casinos and be limited to 10 visits per month and thrice per week.

Limitations such as that will kill the casinos. The backbone of Casinos are their consistent customers.

Also, casinos won’t add to or cause gambling addiction in Japan. Every morning I am out running, there are people sleeping and lined up outside the pachinko parlors at 5am. I don’t see the government doing anything to curb that addiction.

Pretty much everything currently illegal should be legal with regulation, however, the amount of regulation being thrown at gambling is essentially taking this business away from the yakuza to hand it over to government and corporate yakuza. What if I wanted to set up a little one-man mah-jong parlor? Nope. Need that coveted gambling license. So we get giant resorts and the same old yakuza and no opportunities for the ordinary people except to be slaves to corporate casinos.

JJ J, agree with you government don't really know much about the gambling problem, or care. Seen the queue in the morning. The hardcore punters will probably use multiple ID cards to get access to as much as their addiction drive them.

IMHO, this isn't going to end well.

If the government really wants to help tackle the inaka depopulation problem, they'd look into having these casino resorts there.

Look at how much the Indian reservations in the US have benefited. It could work out the same way here.

As part of efforts to tackle addiction, residents of Japan will be charged a 6,000 yen entrance fee for casinos and be limited to 10 visits per month and thrice per week.

This is a joke! It only takes one day of gambling to bankrupt you.

If your number of visits are limited that means they tag you like cattle. Do I want my name and personal information bouncing around some effing Casino computer system? No I most certainly do NOT!

Nearly two-thirds of respondents to a Kyodo News poll conducted last year opposed opening casino resorts, citing concerns over gambling addiction and a possible increase in crime.

I'm guessing they are basing these fears on Pachinko. Over 20% of the population regularly play Pachinko, 50% of which have gambling addiction problems. However, nothing is done to help or prevent these problems because, for some strange reason, Pachinko is not considered gambling. It is run using a loophole in gambling laws to avoid prosecution. I'm also going to guess the crime refers to the large amount of takings that are regularly stolen from Pachinko establishments. Casinos are run very scrupulously with high security, which is very much unlike the shady and unscrupulous Pachinko industry.

Casinos are places to gamble, spend your hard earned money, and enjoy free drinks. Japanese people are more than rich in savings. It is time to spend that money!!

I really don't think enforcing an entrance fee to Japanese would help curb their addiction but could even whet it since they'll be more driven to win that money back. Personally, I believe that people with gambling problems should police themselves and allow casinos to ban them upon their own, family or friends' requests. A lot of my family members have a gambling addiction and have self-banned themselves from casinos and it surprisingly works. Just remember that casinos make a lot of money and opening such a business in Japan would help rake in more tourists and cash, not to mention making jobs.

I think under the rules they are considering, the Casino would become a financial black hole for the people and the economy.

I am really looking forward to these Integrated Resorts! I cannot understand why people are negative. Its not all about gambling, thats just a small part. There will be top-class restaurants, 6 star hotels, amusement parks, shopping malls, theatres, cinemas and so on. They will be a huge boost for tourism, and help shoot up tourist numbers to over 50 million per year. Win-Win!

A man has as many masters as he has vices.

Every morning I am out running, there are people sleeping and lined up outside the pachinko parlors at 5am. I don’t see the government doing anything to curb that addiction.

Yeah I see that allot of that sadness, those people have no life, but its a well known secret that many are run by Koreans, and Koreans loyal to the North...so Ive been told. Gives them a job I guess

Actually with all those machines, some vendor will get allot of work out of that as they are very service dependant. If they are brought in from the states, could be a good job for foreigners also.

Japanese seem to be taking a page from the Democrat playbook on revenue creation for broke over taxed cities. Many of these Dem run US cities had race tracks and bingo addiction. Always going for the low hanging fruit; the hard work takes a real leader like Trump.

In Japans case they can just suck out the pensioners money at the casino, tax the hell out of that.

@ Smithinjapan. What about the 97,000 jobs that will be created by these Integrated Resorts in Osaka alone. I dont call that a "disaster", I call that a great boost for the economy.

nah...its not a good thing unless its foreigners coming in droves...and even that has its downside. a port call to Yokohama? not the most interesting place. What it will do to the geriatric society remains to be seen. most of them dont have much to do, so I guess pay out the pension then take it back at the casino and tax that so your getting some return I guess

Japan needs to think about its youth, and attracting an educated immigrant population. Green cities with easy commutes to work, get really creative, could almost be a paradise, instead of a hell it is now. But there is too many obstacles (mostly human) in the way. so they give up and take the easy casino pick.

All the downsides are overblown.  Casinos in many other countries are a boon, not a blight.

Those advocating these casino resorts wouldn't want to live near one.

If they are so great at boosting jobs and the local economy, why doesn't the government insist that these resorts are based in run down rural areas that need the people and money.

Everything in this article sounds bad.

These establishments are like those mercenary vulture funds which prey upon distressed companies, except that their target is individuals who lack the self control most of us take for granted. Addiction is also a two way street; its tentacles extending to the public authorities which sign off on it and become hooked on the easy money.

Funny, the comments about increased addiction were not such a big issue, not a "headline" at least, when the casinos that were looking to invest here were from Asian countries.

Just another way of looking at the "west" as being the root of all gambling addiction!

I think that it's fine to have casinos and gambling, as long as a proper (ie - ethical and responsible) level of the money is diverted to rehabilitation and education. Educate the people on what gambling is, why people enjoy it, how to do it responsibly, and how to identify an addiction. Then provide rehabilitation opportunities for those who end up needing it.

This is responsible governing. It allows the people to be free to make mistakes, while providing risk management so as to have the least impact upon society.

be limited to 10 visits per month and thrice per week.

"Look sir, it's only Tuesday and you've already been here thrice this week. We cannot accept your money, we are not interested in making a profit today. Please go home and do not spend your money here until next week."

......said no casino EVER!

Abe a conservative politician?

Don't make me laugh!

Japan needs something to pick up the slack after the Olympics have ended and everyone has gone home. I guess that casinos will have to be it.

Once again Abe and his LDP sold out Japan to the Americans, the foreign influence in Japan is getting bigger at an alarming rate.

I really don't understand the need for these mega casino resorts, Japanese people who want to gamble can go to Pachinkos or bet online like the rest of the world.

Is this the type of foreign tourists Japan wants to attract gambling their money away in American owned casinos ?

The local residents will not see a dime of these enterprises and they will have to deal with all the nuisance too.

And what is up with making only Japanese citizens pay an entrance fee of 6000 Yen, surely this is a violation of anti-discrimination laws ?

Ganbara Japan; What about the 97,000 jobs that will be created by these Integrated Resorts in Osaka alone. I dont call that a "disaster", I call that a great boost for the economy.

Japan already has a major labor shortage. These are all low income jobs. Slave labor for the tourist and the rich. People will be working hard and will barely scape by. So who really benefits from these casinos?

Wakarimasen; Just because it works in one country doesn’t mean it will work in another.

Isn't it about time this country grew a spine and stop treating it's citizens as children? Alcohol is available 24/7 but gambling makes the government wet the bed?

Isn't it about time this country grew a spine and stop treating it's citizens as children? Alcohol is available 24/7 but gambling makes the government wet the bed?

What? This comment makes no sense. The government has been working on legalizing casinos for years now. Are you reading a different article than the rest of us?

It takes years? Why prey tell does it take years? Calculating how much money should be distributed in brown envelopes? Who gets the biggest "bonus"? It's a business, just like any other.... businesses don't take years...

What? This comment makes no sense. The government has been working on legalizing casinos for years now. Are you reading a different article than the rest of us?

It takes years? Why prey tell does it take years?

Because introducing a new system that needs financial, criminal, and mental health oversight is something that requires due diligence, which takes years.

You act as if this makes no sense. Expecting that legalizing a system such as gambling to be done in a year (ie - not years) is to be honest, entirely ridiculous. You are phrasing your questions as if they not only make sense, but that the underlying assumption they are built on also makes sense, when it clearly does not in our real world.

Raise the entrance fee to 10,000 yen or more to the casinos for citizen and PR. Family can issue restraining order to family members (to parents, husband, wife, children) who can't control addiction or no income. Bankrupt person also can't enter the casino. Singapore is doing quite well. Can exchange learning with Singapore how they control their casinos. To avoid any social issues from compulsive / addictive gambling.

They should not allow foreign companies to open a gaming business in Japan to begin with. It is like inviting the mafia into a country. Sadly it has already begun in Hokkaido.