A trillion-dollar online industry
A new system developed by the Japan Racing Association will allow concerned families to keep related gambling addicts from playing online.
According to the Japan Times, the gamblers must be clinically diagnosed or suspected of having a gambling disorder based on spending habits.
The move is part of a larger campaign by the government to curb gambling addiction as it prepares to launch a legal casino industry that, according to many estimates, could generate up to $25 billion per year.
The government hopes to see similar restrictions in place at racetracks and off-track betting booths starting later this year, reported the Times. Starting in April, it also plans to expand online gambling restrictions at the request of family members to bicycle, motorbike and motorboat racing.
An estimated 3.2 million Japanese may be compulsive gamblers, according to a recent government survey. An average of ¥58,000 (US$8,900) is spent on gambling per month, the report states, with pachinko accounting for most of the wagers. A spokesman for JRA, a public company overseen by the agriculture ministry that manages racecourses and training facilities, said revenue from online betting accounts for some 60 percent of its ¥2.6 trillion (US$400.4 billion) in annual revenue.
The JRA and the National Association of Racing already have a self-exclusion system in place so problem gamblers can restrict themselves from betting. But so far, only 14 people have signed up.
GGRAsia reports that anti-gambling addiction measures are key to the advancement of Japan’s legal casino industry, which was first approved in December 2016.
