Online gambling has seen exponential growth all over the world. Ever since the imposition of physical lockdowns and social distancing, the online gambling sector has become very popular even among people living in Japan, where most gambling forms are prohibited.
According to the country’s law, a person caught gambling shall be subjected to a fine or a petty fine of not more than 500,000 Yen. There are blanket laws in place that ban almost all types of physical gambling.
Even though gambling is illegal and there are no legal casinos in Japan, gambling is still a popular entertainment form. It is legal in Japan to place bets on sports such as Horse racing, bicycle racing, motorbike racing, soccer, and powerboat racing. It is legal to place bets on National lotteries too.
However, as far as online gambling is concerned, there are no laws in place legalizing online gambling sites. Hence online gambling in Japan falls into the legal grey area.
Currently, there are no major cases or records available to the public regarding people being prosecuted for betting or playing games on online casinos in Japan. Online gambling and online casinos in Japan are not covered under the Casino Acts, and as a result, there are no clear-cut regulations imposed on them.
However, claims of online gambling being legalized in Japan have been dismissed by the government, stating that online gambling is illegal and there will be crackdowns and punishment on such activities.
Japan has been witnessing an increase in its usage of offshore gaming portals ever since the pandemic. The Japanese have always been familiar with gambling despite their restrictive laws. Pachinko, a mix between a slot machine and a pinball machine, is a form of gambling that is very popular in Japan. A Pachinko player’s main aim is to try and control the pinball machine and try to save their steel ball for the longest time.
A pachinko machine can process up to 100 balls per minute, and the game ends when the player loses all their steel balls or decides to end the game and exchange the steel balls for a prize. There are many Pachinko parlors all across Japan and are extremely eye-catching, inviting, and easy to access. You can exchange your winnings at the Pachinko parlors to get items such as cigarettes, electronic gadgets, groceries, silver, and gold. You could also win money indirectly as you could always choose to sell the prizes that you have won.
The Popularity Of Vera And John In Japan
Vera and John is an online casino company that is extremely popular in Japan. According to a study, it was the most popular casino platform in Japan, also because of easy Vera and John withdrawal. The casino site recorded a 119-fold jump in its monthly visits from Japan from 6,48,000 visits in 2018 to an astonishing number of 77.51 million in the year 2019
Some say that Vera and John was the reason for the growth of the online gaming community in Japan. The online casino platform was one of the first companies to enter the Japanese market who has managed to gain the attention of the Japanese players and their loyalty.
One of the many reasons Vera and John became such a hit among Japanese players is its top-class language support, quality graphics, easy navigation, and diverse and wide range of online casino games. Vera and John have hundreds of online slot games, live casino games, and table games which are easily accessible on PCs, tablets, and mobile phones.
Are you wondering how to withdraw at Vera and John? The online casino platform offers its users easy transaction facilities where players can easily and quickly withdraw their winnings. They offer a wide range of withdrawal and deposit methods such as credit card and debit card payments, e-wallets, cheques, international wire transfers, and bank transfers. Apart from this, the company frequently runs several campaigns which specifically target Japanese players. This has helped them create a strong following of players from Japan. One could say that Vera and John have paved the way for other online gambling platforms to start and flourish in Japan.
Online Gambling In Japan
Since most forms of gambling are illegal, there are no physical casinos available to people residing in Japan. Everyone can’t travel to gambling destinations such as Macau to gamble. Hence, Japan’s online gambling sector has continuously managed to attract many players by providing them with a host of online games to bet on.
Various online betting platforms now use marketing tricks such as displaying messages in Japanese to attract customers from Japan. Betting sites such as Bet365, Vegas Casino, Sloto’cash Casino, LeoVegas, and Bitstars casino encourage and welcome Japan’s players to use their betting platforms. The widespread advertisements of online gaming websites, ease of registration, and transactions have made it extremely easy for overseas players to register and play on online gaming portals.
Even though online gambling and most forms of gambling are illegal in Japan, awareness regarding the illegality of gambling is extremely low among people. According to a survey conducted on 1000 Japanese people by a group from Tokyo called the International Casino Institute, in December 2020, only 41% of the participants knew that online gambling was illegal and betting online was a criminal offense. 18% thought it was legal to gamble online, whereas the other 41 percent said it fell into the gray zone.
Restrictions may be in place to stop people from most forms of gambling. However, the Japanese have always indulged in different forms of games similar to gambling to keep themselves entertained. Pachinko, Mahjong, Toto, and the lotteries are extremely famous and popular in Japan. They are classified as amusements and are regulated under separate laws. Betting on Horse racing, Bicycle racing, and various other motorsports are legal in Japan so even if online gambling and physical casinos are not available for you, you always have plenty of other legal options to place your bets on if you are from Japan.
