One-in-Three Japanese Who Play Offshore Rake Up Debt within a Week

Offshore gambling sites in Japan are quite popular, so much so that 3.7 million people have placed a wager with an unlicensed service that is available to local citizens.

Offshore Gambling Leads to Quick Indebtedness in Japan

This is the conclusion of the Society Concerned about Gambling Addiction, a Tokyo-based organization that has conducted an extensive survey to determine the number of online gamblers and whether they were aware of the legality of the activity.

According to Noriko Tanaka, a representative of the organization who previously spoke to The Japan Times, Japanese citizens need to be shielded from the influence of foreign gambling operators who have been targeting the country through the use of offshore websites.

Players are lured in different ways, too, with 23.7% of people who end up playing at online gambling sites seeing an advertisement on social media. All online gambling sites are illegal in Japan, and no law permits Internet gambling presently.

However, people who start playing online platforms that involve games of chance soon find themselves in debt. One in three individuals would borrow money within a week of starting to use such gambling sites.

The survey also focused on understanding player motivations and player awareness of certain gambling laws. For example, 52.7% of all respondents said that they were not aware of offshore gambling being illegal in the country.

Another data set, one collated by the National Police Agency, indicates that around 3.7 million are gambling with offshore services, although this number would be hard to verify. The police survey similarly indicated that around 40% of those asked were not aware that gambling at an offshore gambling service was illegal.

Awareness That Offshore Gambling Is Illegal Is Lacking

Another 60% said that they were aware of gambling leading to addiction. The exact number of people turning to illegal gambling services is not easy to know, however. One of the key issues has been the stigma attached to being in debt and gambling in Japanese society, which has inadvertently led to the issue being buried in the public space.

The government has not done nearly enough to promote the issue and explain to citizens that gambling offshore is illegal. Another issue is that once people end up addicted to gambling, they do not have a way of getting the aid they need to get better.