Overseas online casinos surge in access from Japan Difficult to regulate

Access from Japan to online casinos where you can actually bet money via the Internet is increasing rapidly. In Japan, gambling is prohibited in principle, and using online casinos is also illegal. However, due to the refraining from going out due to the spread of the new coronavirus, the number of accesses in September this year increased more than 100 times from three years ago. It is difficult to expose and regulate foreign businesses, and the Japanese market is being targeted because of its lax guards.

The number of accesses to online casinos from within Japan is the third largest in the world after the United States and Germany, and Japan has now become an “illegal casino superpower”. Experts have warned that "regulation is urgently needed."

According to a survey by Similar Web Japan (Tokyo), a digital analysis support company, the number of accesses to online casinos from Japan was about 700,000 times a month in December 2018, but around February 2019. sharply increased from In January 2020, when the corona disaster was in full swing, it increased to about 78.2 million times. After that, it decreased temporarily, but started to increase again from August 2020.

September 2021 recorded about 83 million views, about 118 times more than December 2018. The number of accesses by country was the United States with about 258 million times, followed by Germany with about 104 million times.

Until the end of 2020, the major site “Vera & John Casino” almost monopolized access from Japan, but in 2021, several major sites with monthly access exceeding 10 million appeared. All of them have opened Japanese sites, and the current situation where overseas businesses compete to develop the "Japanese market" comes to mind. The method of accessing Vera & John Casino was September 2009, and 67% of the access was from mobile terminals such as smartphones.

Japan prohibits gambling other than public gambling. Online casinos operated overseas are still betting money in Japan, and there have been cases where users have been exposed for illegal activities. However, it is extremely difficult to crack down on foreign businesses, and they are virtually left unchecked.

Takashi Kiso, director of the International Casino Research Institute, points out, "It's an abnormal situation where smartphones are the most familiar gambling place. The market is saturated in English-speaking countries, and Japan, which is virtually unregulated, is being targeted." It is estimated that there are about 2 million domestic participants in one year, and the amount of bets flowing out overseas is tens of billions of yen, but the awareness of illegality is surprisingly low. and gambling addiction measures, as well as an appropriate taxation system should be considered as soon as possible." 〔Joint〕

▼Online casino A system where you can register as a member and bet money from your computer or smartphone to play games such as slots and baccarat. Mostly operated by foreign operators, most are licensed in countries where gambling is legal, such as the Mediterranean island nation of Malta and the Dutch dominion of Curacao in the Caribbean. If you access and gamble from within Japan, you may be charged with criminal gambling. 〔Joint〕