A Japanese nonprofit called the Society Concerned about Gambling Addiction says there has been a marked rise in online gambling by young people in that country, and a concurrent rise in gambling addiction.
According to Asia Gaming Brief, the volume of illegal online bets reportedly increased during the Covid-19 pandemic, when many people including young adults began to work remotely on their computers.
The findings, first reported in the Asahi Shimbun, indicate that visits to illicit online betting platforms grew more than 100 times between 2018 and 2021, and 78 percent of those who sought counseling for gambling addiction were in their 20s and 30s—up 14 percentage points from 2019.
The study also revealed that gambling addicts racked up average debts of JPY 8.55 million (US$54,500) last year, and more than 28 percent admitted that they borrowed from loan sharks or stole from family members or businesses to support their dependency.
Land-based and online gambling are mostly illegal in Japan, with exceptions for some forms of racing as well as pachinko and pachislot. Casino gaming was legalized in 2016 under the late prime minister Shinzo Abe, but the first legal casino, an MGM Resorts complex in Osaka, will not open until 2030.
