JAPAN Trends and Developments Contributed by: Masayuki Fukuda, Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu
is difficult to enforce such regulation directly upon off- shore online gambling sites. Recently, however, there is a view that if an offshore online casino operator ena- bles Japanese users to access and use online games in Japan, such offshore online casino operator’s act may constitute a gambling-related crime under the Penal Code. The Japanese government is currently considering implementing “blocking” (ie, compulsory shutting down of Japanese resident users’ access to online casinos). However, there are some objections due to concerns about infringing on the constitutional right to the secrecy of communications. Therefore, the Japa- nese government now considers that it will have to try and exhaust all the other measures for preventing Japanese users from accessing and using offshore online gambling before implementing “blocking”. In this connection, the Japanese government might try to demand or pressure foreign governments licensing offshore online casino sites or offshore online casino operators themselves to prevent such casino sites from being “presented” to Japanese residents by implementing geo-blocking against Japanese resident users or otherwise. Sports betting Traditionally, sports betting in Japan has been oper- ated by the public or semi-public sector in respect of only four sports:
industry a growth industry”, in which they urged the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry and the Japan Sports Agency to discuss the efficient use of sports betting, considering that gambling contributes to an increase in tax revenue and develops industries in Europe and the US. The professional baseball and professional football industries and certain pro-sports betting companies such as Rakuten, CyberAgent, and Mixi have been lobbying the Japanese govern- ment for years to deregulate sports betting, insisting that potential betting revenue in respect of Japanese sports has been outflowed abroad, though such rev- enue should remain in Japan. In December 2020, the Japan Association of New Economy, a business lob- bying body represented by Hiroshi Mikitani, founder of Rakuten, published a proposal for legalising sports betting. As a backdrop, in 2018, sports betting was legalised in the US and has seen remarkable success. Such overseas news has ignited discussions in Japan in relation to the legalisation of sports betting. Question of legalisation of sports betting In June 2022, it was reported by a newspaper that a study group within the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry made a draft proposal for legalising sports betting and the Japan Sports Agency estab- lished the Sports Future Development Council, which should have begun intensive discussion over liberalis- ing sports betting. While the Liberal and Democratic Party admitted that various discussions had been tak- ing place within the party, it emphasised that it will be important to make a firm scheme (including identifying an entity to run the operation and demonstrating how the profits and other money are to be distributed) that will be acceptable to the people. Most other political parties criticised the move and asked for thorough prudent discussion over the pros and cons of liberalis- ing sports betting, in particular from the viewpoint of concern over its potential to increase gambling prob- lems and promote unjust rigging. Current legal status of sports betting Under the current Penal Code, an individual is pro- hibited from “gambling” or “running a gambling place for the purpose of gaining profit”. In relation to sports betting, bookmakers operate betting services and provide them to users.
• horse racing; • track cycling; • motorboat racing; and • motorcycle racing.
In 2021, it was reported by the Financial Times that the Japanese government secretly began discus- sions surrounding the legalisation of sports betting (in respect of baseball and football, the two most popular sports in Japan) because professional sports industries/organisations and athletes have suffered enormous economic damage due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Concurrently, the sports business subcommittee of the Liberal and Democratic Party, the ruling party, published a proposal titled “Aiming to make the sports
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