Japan’s Love For Online Gambling
Image source: David Monniaux, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Introduction: Japan’s Love For Online Gambling
Over the past few years, we can see more and more of Japan’s love for online gambling. This is thanks to a combination of a couple of important factors. The first being that the Japanese would suffer negatively from a social perspective if seen to be gambling online. And, thanks to a slow thawing of this attitude, now more and more gambling companies are offering online jackpot sites and products for the Japanese market. So, with easier access and more opportunities, we can see the market expanding. Over the last couple of years, we can see that online casino operators are more willing to spend money in order to gain Japanese players. This has helped promote Japan’s love for online gambling across all casino games.
Another factor you have to keep in mind when we discuss the rate of change. And that is that Japan has some of the strictest anti-gambling laws in the world.
Most Gambling is Still Illegal
Today the average Japanese gambler is no different in his taste than any westerner. They love gambling. But the situation that allows for casino games has never been an easy one in the land of the rising sun. On the whole, they are very conservative when it comes to imported entertainment. More especially that coming from the west. The policies and laws enacted against gambling have produced harsh penalties. There’s a very fine line to be found between games of skill, which are legal, and those which are based on Lady Luck, which is not. And you’d better note the difference, as the punishment for getting it wrong is severe.
One thing you’ll notice if you’re both a gambler and a visitor to the country is that there are no western-style casinos to win the jackpot. But there are over 20,000 halls that offer gaming options for players from all around the country. It took many years of toing and froing for the country’s legislature to finally approve a gambling bill in 2016. This all but legalized gambling for the whole territory.
Pachinko Parlours Everywhere
Take a walk in Shinjuku or Shibuya, and your ears will be assaulted with the noise of metal balls and bells and whistles. This is the national game called Pachinko. It’s a sort of vertical pinball, where metal balls dropped in the top, make their way down passing various barriers and paths. And though the income from this activity brought in over $149 billion, it’s still considered a “grey market.” These Pachinko halls appear to be busy from dusk till dawn with the lights and sound spilling out onto the streets. Playing Pachinko isn’t open to many foreigners or tourists. But there are other betting activities to do whilst you’re in Japan.
Japan’s Love For Online Gambling: The Growth Of Online Casinos
A huge problem with Japanese casinos is their traditional link to the Japanese underworld of the Yakuza. Funnily enough, the very name comes from a game of cards. If you have a hand that is useless, then it’s known as a Yakuza hand, as it appears to serve no purpose. So real live gambling, even playing Pachinko, has the taint of the Japanese mafia. This leads to many gamblers staying away. Or if they do gamble, then they do so in secret. But thanks to the relatively new openings of online casinos to the Japanese market, more and more players are signing up to win the jackpot online.
]With casino gambling still in a purgatory between legal and illegal, players have been more willing to accept the online route for their gambling needs. This has led to a recent spike in online casino incomes. This, in turn, inspires more companies to jump on the bandwagon in the hope of profit.
Outside of Japan, the online gambling market place is worth around $60 billion and is growing by around 13.2% each year. Looking at these figures and then comparing them to Japan’s spend on Pachinko alone, leads many foreign online gambling companies to see room for huge expansion.
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Why The Japanese Are Choosing Online Casinos
One of the few things that Japanese punters can bet on is horse racing and this is available on most online casinos. And this has proved to be a great gateway activity that has, over time, seen many new players try their hand at other online casino games on the same web sites. Many of the best online casinos with jackpots are now making a greater effort to understand the mentality of the Japanese marketplace and change the design of their games accordingly. For example, King Billy Casino accepts Japanese players. By making players feel more comfortable with the overall process, they are gradually playing more games. With this, Japan’s love for online gambling leads to more casino game opportunities opening up.
Part of this changing attitude is that gambling companies are streamlining the whole sign-up and gaming process. On the whole Japanese people don’t like giving out their personal details. And even less so using their credit cards online, You’ll find that cash still reigns supreme in Japanese society. In truth, it’s a difficult habit to break. In order to help the process of online gambling acceptance, many casino companies, not only give cash bonuses for joining. But they also offer luxury goods, holidays, and clothing as well. There are rewards for signing up. Because Japanese gamblers are shy about their habit, it’s very difficult to get them to input their personal details into a website.
Special Bonuses for the Japanese
We in the west are used to being asked our details on an almost daily basis when going online. But in Japan, that’s a rare occurrence. So western gaming companies, like the King Billy Casino who are now breaking into the lucrative Japanese market, find it a struggle when it comes to the sign-up process. That’s where the offer of goods comes into play. In the west, a company can offer a welcome bonus. But in truth, it’s impossible to cash out. The terms and conditions mean that you really see no real benefit from it. Apart from being able to play for a longer period. That doesn’t cut the ice in Japan. You have to more or less, bribe the players to sign-up with real, tangible goods. So the cost of acquisition per player is going to be much higher in Japan than in the west.
Japan’s Love For Online Gambling: Social Pressure
It’s a long road ahead convincing players in the orient to sign up in the numbers that online casino companies are used to from westerners. So, though Japan’s love for online gambling is growing, with the number of players increasing, it’s not as fast as you might find elsewhere. Companies have to really go much more overboard when it comes to explaining factors like encryption and security. These are some of the factors the Japanese are most concerned about. Here in the west, we all know that our data is safe and secure.
But your average Japanese player is paranoid that their information might leak out, leading to a loss of “face”. This is a totally oriental thing, whereby shame and honor are the most important attributes in their society. To lose them is a form of negative social ostracism. With all forms of gambling still frowned upon, no one wants their little secret out in the open.
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