Where Is Gambling Legal? Japan’s Lower House Passes Controversial Bill For Legalizing Casinos

Japan’s legislature took a big step toward legalization of casinos in the country Tuesday by passing the long-awaited bill backed by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in the hope of boosting tourism in the country. The move, however, still faces hurdles in the form of ethical implications.

“The bill passed through the chamber and will be sent to the upper house later today,” a parliamentary spokeswoman said, according to Agence France-Presse, despite protest walkouts by many opposition members of the house.

Legalization of casinos has been on Abe’s agenda ever since he took office four years ago, however, it has been routinely delayed over worries about gambling addiction and linkages to organized crime. But as the proposed legislation moves to the upper house controlled by Abe’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), it is expected to be passed before the current parliamentary session ends on Dec. 14.

There are many, however, who are unhappy with the bill and the haste with which it was passed — the entire process in the lower house took about 15 minutes. Junior coalition member Komeito's secretary-general, parliamentary affairs chief and others voted against the move, along with some members of the LDP like former Defense Secretary Gen Nakatani.

The bill, which officially calls for the legalization of “integrated resorts” to avoid the taboo associated with gambling, saw criticism from a divided opposition, some of whose members were the bill’s co-sponsors. The public opinion in Japan also appears to be against the casino bill with a poll by the Yomiuri newspaper released Sunday finding that 57 percent of respondents opposed it, while 34 percent supported the legalization.

However, even though the bill may become a law this month, further legislation — covering issues like licensing operators and disallowing gambling addicts in the establishments — is required to bring casinos to Japan and this is highly unlikely to go through before the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

The prime minister hopes that the legalization will be able to maintain the momentum that the country’s tourism industry gains from the Olympics. According to the Wall Street Journal, global casino giants like MGM Resorts International, Caesars Entertainment Corp., Las Vegas Sands Corp. and Wynn Resorts Ltd. have looked at Japan as a promising avenue and the bill may bring billions of dollars worth of investment into the country.