Politics & Government

Japanese Lawmakers Support Continued Ban on Sports Betting

The Yomiuri Shimbun
Former Prime Minister Taro Aso, center, delivers his address about sports betting at a meeting in the Diet Building in Tokyo on Tuesday.

By Keita Kudo / Yomiuri Shimbun Sports Writer

2:00 JST, December 22, 2025

A suprapartisan group of Diet members focused on sports promotion recently confirmed they were against legalizing sports betting, in which people bet on the outcome of sports matches.

The interparty group, chaired by former Prime Minister Taro Aso, held a meeting of its directors in the Diet Building on Tuesday, and they unanimously agreed to prevent the legalization of sports betting in Japan.

The group established a team to prevent match-fixing and other fraudulent acts and to protect athletes and judges from those who plot such scams.

Former Justice Minister Takashi Yamashita is chairing the team, and the group decided to proceed with debate on what actions to take in legislative terms.

In Japan, the Penal Code prohibits gambling except on publicly run races. The exceptions, which include horse races, bicycle races, boat races and motorcycle races, are managed and supervised by central or local governments.

Publicly run races began helping government finances during postwar reconstruction, and some of the revenue is spent on improving social welfare programs and similar ends.

Match-fixing

Sports betting raises major concerns about fraud, as matches could be fixed or athletes bribed.

For example, a crime group might contact an athlete and suggest that they foul or lose a match on purpose in exchange for payment.

In 1969, Japan witnessed a major scandal in which several professional baseball players were permanently expelled from the game for engaging in match-fixing as part of a gambling scheme linked to gang members.

Since then, Japan’s pro sports organizations have supervised players closely to ensure they do not gamble.

However, with the rise of social media, athletes have become easier to contact, and there are a growing number of cases in which athletes, including professional players, have been involved in gambling.

On Friday, Football Australia retroactively banned Riku Danzaki, 25, a former J.League player who belonged to the Western United Football Club, from all soccer-related activities for seven years from June this year.

Danzaki was alleged to have intentionally committed fouls in matches in April and May in order to gain unlawful earnings. In August, an Australian court in Melbourne found Danzaki guilty.

Also fresh in people’s minds is Ippei Mizuhara, who worked as an interpreter for U.S. Major League baseball star Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Having been embroiled in his own gambling scandal, Mizuhara is now in prison.

On Thursday, the Council for Sports Ecosystem Promotion held a symposium in Tokyo, in which the current state of sports betting was explained. It noted such problems as criminal groups in Europe unlawfully manipulating sports matches in 44 countries, and among the attendees, there was a call for countermeasures.

Toshiaki Endo, former minister in charge of the Tokyo Olympic Games, expressed concern. “We must take thorough measures to prevent such fraudulent acts and protect athletes and judges,” he said.

Sadayuki Sakakibara, commissioner of the Nippon Professional Baseball Organization, voiced a similar sense of urgency. “Illegal gambling on sports, which is spreading beyond national borders, is a serious risk,” he said. “It could damage trust in sports.”

“We will build an environment in which fraudulent acts cannot occur,” he added. “We will give thorough protection to athletes and judges under a proper system.”

Preventing fraud

The new team set up by the group of interparty lawmakers will begin full-fledged debate early next year.

To prevent sports fraud, the Council of Europe in 2019 enacted the Convention on the Manipulation of Sports Competitions (the Macolin Convention).

The framework is meant to respond to match-fixing and other fraudulent acts with international cooperation. It requires signatory countries to set up command centers for this purpose, as well as to collect and share information with other members.

Yamashita, a member of the new team, said, “Using the Macolin Convention as a reference, we want to present Japan’s own standard for ensuring the integrity of the Japanese sports world.”