Hachiro Okonogi, chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party’s National Public Safety Commission, says Japan’s ongoing plan to develop three integrated resorts (IRs) in the country doesn’t mean iGaming is on the horizon.
According to Inside Asian Gaming, the question was raised by Hiroyuki Moriyama of the Constitutional Democratic Party, who asked if legal iGaming might naturally follow, due to the increase in offshore online gaming caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Okonogi replied, “There are provisions on casino acts in the existing IR Development Act, but it does not include online casinos and they are not subject to this regulation. However, when I was asked at the Cabinet Committee last week, I answered that we would continue to take strict action as the police and chairperson of the National Public Safety Commission.”
Okonogi added, “The reason online casinos are not subject to the ‘casino acts’ in the IR Development Act is because online casinos are illegal in the first place.”
