politics

Ruling parties agree on casino visit restrictions for Japan residents

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InJapan,, low income people use pabinko parlos. store owners, construction business owners, many pooliticians gamble in places called bakuchiba. Because they don't pay. Tax, they are profitable.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Don't worry. Chinese billionaires are back to Vegas gambling. There was a new casino in Vegas. Asian style. Lucky. Dragon, created by a Myanmer billionaire. Because rumor. That it only employ Chinese speaking dealers, it went down and closed now. Japan only gave permit to Las Vegas based Wynn Entertainment. It ignored Asian casino operation. Tokyo Casino was originally planned to shift northern Chinese bulionaires from Vegas to Tokyo. In Japan, people will be back to. Local bakuchi-ba.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Singapore already has more "draconian" restrictions on its citizens and the casino is doing extremely well

Japan is not Singapore. Singapore is the apex of Nanny States and the people there are used to be told what do day in and day out. They don't object and they really don't know any different.

Singapore also has more focused economy than Japan.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

10 visits a month? That's more than twice a week! What a joke.

Get ready for the "safety country" to see a whole lot more crime and a sicker society as the result of this.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Japanese and non-Japanese residents of Japan will have mental health issues after they've visited the maximum allowed 10 times a month and wasted so much (50,000 yen) just on entrance fees! But the more you bet the more you win, right?! Or is it the more you spend, the more you save?! If only.....!

Someone once said, 'Casinos are a tax for those who aren't good at mathematics.' !!

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Build them to make money, raise taxes and "attract tourists" (not sure from where.

Yes smoking will be allowed (maybe in one part, like in Singapore and elsewhere).

agree charging is a blunt weapon against "addiction" but they will do what has been tried elsewhere.

"discrimination" gaainst locals is on assumption that casdino gambling is addictive and so they will waste tgheir money and destroy their lives - whereas if foreign tourists do that, who cares?

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Will they allow smoking in them like Pachinko?

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Now that the casinos will be priced beyond what most residents will be willing to pay, how do the casinos propose to recruit enough Japanese/Chinese/Korean/English speaking (and skilled!) dealers? Seems mad to basically hinge all their bets on tourists. It's not as though Japan is as conveniently located as Singapore & Macao...plus the language difficulties for tourists.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

If you dont want people gambling why the hell would you build casinos?

1 ( +1 / -0 )

@Dango Bong

oh yeah and who cares about the foreigners, we have to protect the pure Japanese people right? How about legal resident foreigners?

What are you talking about? Who said anything about race?!

Komeito party endorsed the plan to limit the number of casino visits to three times a week and 10 per month for people living in Japan.

Today you get equal treatment so don't complain

1 ( +1 / -0 )

So if they stick to this plan the gamblers will have wasted 50000 Yen per month before they even spin a wheel flip a card or roll a dice

1 ( +1 / -0 )

A better idea would be to create a membership scenario whereby people by 'X' amount of visits at a 'severely' discounted rate to allow 'Naoki Average' to enjoy the casinos and have a flutter. The membership could also include bet limits and access to specific areas of the casinos to help prevent problem gambling. Setting a ridiculously high entrance fee is not gonna stop problem gamblers. It's only going to make them find their fix somewhere else. Australia has casinos in every major city and the idea of an entrance fee has never been considered. Australia also has slot machines and card machines in all pubs and clubs. However, all the staff are trained to spot problem gamblers and are required to stop serving them and to refer them to counselling services. Don't get me wrong, Australia has its fair share of problem gamblers, but the government, casinos, pubs and clubs are working to weed them out. Having a flutter at the casino is a lot of fun and I would love to be able to have a flutter once a month or so in Japan, but if they are gonna charge ¥10,000 per visit they can stick it up their bum!

This is where Japan is failing miserably. Gambling is illegal in Japan, but according to government data, nearly 2% of the population are addicted to gambling, which is hogwash. They have gambling on horses, bicycles and those stupid little boats. And then, the have the infamous pachinko, which is 'technically' not gambling, but that doesn't stop 12% of the population playing it weekly with nearly half them having issues with gambling addiction, but it's not gambling, so it's not counted in government statistics. You can also add to this the illegal gambling on mahjong, baseball, sumo and many other sports. Gambling addiction is already rife in Japan, no matter how much the government tries to deny it.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

Problem is that the Japanese sheeple won't say anything about it .. country is so

neutered.

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

I like the idea of charging residents to enter the casino; the higher the charge the better. They could call it a "stupidity tax". There are many taxes non residents do not have to pay and this could be one of them.

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

So if you are Japanese, pay taxes all your life and have a corrupt govt force you to pay ¥5000 for entry each time to lose your money to American companies...and then have them tell you when you can go? Foreigners are free. Why people take this?

It is like the ¥50000 unlimited shimkensen travel pass for one week that foreigners can buy. It costs me about ¥25000 to just go and return from Tokyo on one day. I pay tax.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

It should be illegal to charge some people entry and not others based on their residence status. What about problem eaters? Will restaurants be next?

1 ( +3 / -2 )

The restriction on locals entering casinos or having to pay to do so is very common across Asia.  Singapore, Korea, Philippines (and maybe some others) all have such restrictions.  HK doesn't allow casinos so locals have to "pay" to go to Macau.  And if you go to casino in (say) Singapore it is full of locals (apparently about 200,000 individual visits by locals to the 2 Singapore casinos in 2017) who have paid the 100 SGD to enter.  And the Sands property in Singapore is highly profitable and pays a huge amount of tax (about SGD 500 million). 

agree gambling is already well entrenched in Japanese society so not sure why the big fuss over casinos.  but putting these restrictions unlikely to impact profits much or stop serious gamblers from going often.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Zero is the only safe number of casinos

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Religion in Vegas? Churches. close on Sunday because people go casino today meals with free cooopons.

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

Btw, there is no pachinko. In USA. Gambling games, means people can compute probability of winning.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

Because Nevada collect casino business licens fee, the state gov't do not collect state income tax.

-4 ( +0 / -4 )

Don't worry. There will be no. Las Vegas Casino planning to Tokyo. J Gov't. Can dream.

These Vegas Casinos created gorgeous Casinos in Macao but closed when Chinese gov't began collecting entrance fees and Macao is ghost town now.

3 ( +5 / -2 )

Is all this about casino's sorry I thought I was reading about a 3 Ring Circus!!!

And they are talking about a LOT of casino's......WTH....

I also agree these will become white elephants  devoid of tourists. I think Japan's tourism will peak at some point & then decline & they will be forced to open the doors so to speak......

This all sounds  like a real GAMBLE, that under current conditions I WOULD NOT BET ON!!!

2 ( +2 / -0 )

No one cares about “gambling addiction.”

The Pachinko industry is behind this bill.

5 ( +6 / -1 )

Yeah don't agree with the entrance fees and visit limits. Casinos provide entertainment other than gambling so these restrictions severely stifle that

2 ( +5 / -3 )

I’m a combination of a libertarian and a socialist. I feel people should have the right to make their own mistakes, ie - gamble, but that the state should provide education to try to prevent the problem in the first place, and rehabilitation to fix the problem after the fact.

Personal responsibility with a social safety-net.

7 ( +7 / -0 )

Yeah, casinos are no worse than pachinko and way worse than the porn. But the government has to do something, right?

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

Singapore already has more "draconian" restrictions on its citizens and the casino is doing extremely well. I would go the other direction and apply this to the pachinko parlors as well. It is sad to see people lined up outside these when walking to work in the morning.

While I get the libertarian points of view (and I tend to lean that way often) I guess for me this one is more personal after watching a good friend destroy his life and family due to a gambling addiction.

4 ( +5 / -1 )

Casino will be a ghost town with those kind of entrance fees.

I figure after being open 90 days they will complain too few customers and the fees will fade away.

8 ( +9 / -1 )

How about letting adults be adults and if they want to blow all of their money in a casino then it is on them.  Putting an entrance fee on them is a tad silly, but I guess the pachinko parlors don't want the competition.  What I really want to know, will the drinks be free and the buffets cheap?

0 ( +3 / -3 )

Greedy, cynical hypocrites.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

More Nanny state. I am perfectly capable of gambling responsibly. The government doesn't need to get involved.

3 ( +5 / -2 )

All good. Japanese voters love to take orders from their masters. The more rules and regulations the better.

4 ( +7 / -3 )

8000¥ Per visit is just dumb. As is thinking you can somehow control how many times someone visits per month. Seems unwork

Better to fly to Vegas.

Free entry, free drinks and food too.

6 ( +7 / -1 )

With an ¥8-10,000 entrance fee I won't be busting a nut to go to any of Japan's casinos. These fools don't seem to realise that such a high entrance fee will actually encourage people to gamble more because a couple will already be 200 bucks out of pocket by the time they get in the door. Plus, if one was to take the 10 visits a month it would be ¥100,000 just for entrance fees. They say the want to help local economies, but these casinos will be empty for most of the year with just a few international gamblers. They are destined to fail miserably!

7 ( +7 / -0 )

 I wonder why Komeito is so against this casino bill?

Komeito is against all gambling, and is heavily involved in social welfare issues. If there is such a thing, Komeito is actually the "moral" guide for the LDP government.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

You have to pay? to enter an establishment who's soul pourpose is to take what money you have? Then didn't think this through at all. A "Resort complex" is a commercial enterprise designed to make a huge amounts of money.

0 ( +4 / -4 )

oh yeah and who cares about the foreigners, we have to protect the pure Japanese people right? How about legal resident foreigners?

-1 ( +3 / -4 )

I agree with Simon, you already have tons of gambling in Japan, why are they so worried about casinos? I wonder why Komeito is so against this casino bill? Do they get a lot of money from other gambling institutions who fear losing out to something more sexy like a casino? Also, Y8000 is too much to charge for local residents, I agree that the Y5000 seems more reasonable, but even at that cost, you won't see me darken their doorstep.

9 ( +10 / -1 )

Komeito is concerned about the issue of problem gambling as about 3.2 million Japanese adults are suspected to have suffered addiction, according to a government survey.

If it was up to Komeito alone this casino bill would have never passed.

3 ( +5 / -2 )

typical nanny state response to a problem. So you can play pachinko and bet on horses, boats and cycling everyday of the year but you are not adult enough to "gamble". So now the government not only tells society when to change onto cool and warm fashion it also restricts your choices cause Uncle Abe knows best.

13 ( +17 / -4 )

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