Online Casinos: Growing Debt Can Invite ‘Dark Part-Time Jobs’

Editorial

14:59 JST, March 17, 2025

The use of online casinos, which is illegal, is spreading rapidly in Japan. It is essential to raise awareness in society that doing so is a crime, and to step up the crackdown on gambling brokers.

The National Police Agency has conducted its first survey on the issue, and it has found that an estimated 3.37 million people in Japan have accessed overseas online casino sites and gambled. The total am

However, according to the survey, 40% of online casino users said they did not know it was illegal. It is a shocking fact that illegal gambling is spreading due to misunderstanding.

The number of users of online casinos that were discovered by police nationwide last year was over 160, which is three times bigger than the previous year’s number. This year, too, it has been discovered that sports players and TV ount of money wagered is estimated to be ¥1.2 trillion per year. Such a huge amount of money is flowing out of the country.

In Japan, it is a crime to gamble on anything other than publicly licensed gambling activities such as horse racing and keirin bicycle racing, and doing so is prohibited. Even if a person gambles in casinos that are operated legally overseas, it is illegal to make a bet in Japan.

Online casinos, at which one can make bets 24 hours a day, are said to have a high risk of addiction. It is said there are also cases in which young people who have incurred debts because of their online gambling apply for so-called dark part-time jobs on social media and are forced to become involved in special fraud and other crimes.

If casinos, which people can casually start gambling at, are serving as a gateway to serious crimes, then this is an extremely serious situation. Users need to be aware of such dangers.

In recent years, there is a huge number of casino sites that offer services in Japanese. In some cases, they advertise themselves as “safe and secure” or “legal.” They are probably trying to target Japanese people, who are not aware that the sites are illegal, to cunningly lure them in.

It is difficult to crack down on casino companies that are operating legally overseas. It is essential that the government and police repeatedly make it clear that getting involved in online casinos while in Japan is a crime.

People such as athletes are appearing in casino advertisements and acting as “billboards” for casinos. Activities that would encourage illegal acts should be strictly avoided.

It is also important to prevent people from being able to use online casinos.

Transfers of betting money to overseas-based online casino companies are made using currencies such as cryptocurrencies, and the process is mediated by payment service providers. The police must impose strict controls on payment service providers and cut off the money transfer routes.

The Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry has said it will begin considering the introduction of a so-called blocking system to cut off access to online casino sites. The ministry should identify issues in connection with the introduction and make them lead to establishing effective measures.

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, March 17, 2025)