JAPAN Law and Practice Contributed by: Masayuki Fukuda, Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu
4.8 Application Fees An applicant for a licence for a casino business opera- tion shall pay the necessary costs for its examination to the national government. More specifically, such applicant shall pay an estimated amount of such examination costs (background check, etc) calcu- lated and notified by the Commission by a date des- ignated by the Commission. If the amount paid as an estimated amount is short of the amount of actual examination costs, the applicant shall pay the shortfall of costs calculated and notified by the Commission by a date designated by the Commission. If the above- mentioned estimated amount or additional amount has not been paid, the Commission may dismiss the application for a casino business licence. 4.9 Ongoing Annual Fees While there is no annual fee, if a casino business oper- ator intends to renew the casino business licence after its valid period, it shall pay the costs necessary for the examination necessary for such renewal of the licence as in the similar amount-determination and payment process mentioned in 4.8 Application Fees . 4.10 Personal Licensing No specific licences are required for directors or employees. However, a background check of directors and officers will be made as part of the examination of the licence for the casino business operator. Casino business operators shall obtain pre-confirmation from the Commission in respect of employees or others to engage in certain casino-related services and shall make a post-fact filing in respect of such employees or others with the Commission without delay after it has them engage in such casino-related services. As for shareholders, any person who wishes to own 5% or more of the voting rights, shares, or interests in an IR/casino business operator needs to obtain permission from the Commission on the ground that such person may materially affect the casino busi- ness operator’s casino business by exercising its vot- ing rights, etc, and it will receive distributions from the casino’s GGR. Shareholders and their directors and officers (in cases where the shareholder is a judicial entity) must have sufficient social credibility and a person having a cer-
tain criminal record will be disqualified. Application for permission shall be filed in advance of the acquisition of shares of a casino business operator. No fees will be required for filing such application. A casino business operator shall submit to the Com- mission the list of shareholders within three months after the end of each business year. A person who acquires 5% or more of the shares of a casino business operator without obtaining the Com- mission’s permission may be subject to punishment by imprisonment with work for not more than one year, or a fine of not more than JPY1 million. A person who fails to submit the annual list of shareholders may be subject to punishment by a fine of not more than JPY300,000. As mentioned in 2.1 Online Gambling , under the IR Implementation Law, a casino business may be oper- ated only within land-based IR areas authorised by the national government (where IRs or specified complex tourist facilities including convention centres, exhi- bition facilities, recreational/entertainment facilities, tourism promotion facilities, accommodation facilities, and a casino are established). Only one casino facility may be operated in a single IR area and the maximum floor area of a casino facility is 3% of the total floor area of such IR. Currently only one IR area (Osaka IR) has been approved by the Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism. The application of approval for Osaka IR was made on 27 April 2022, and the approval was granted on 14 April 2023. 5. Land-Based Gambling 5.1 Premises Licensing
6. Online Gambling 6.1 B2C Licences No such licences are available.
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