What image comes to mind when you hear the term “online casino”? Since casinos that involve the act of betting money are prohibited by law in Japan, many people may wonder if playing online casinos would be illegal.
This article will explain in detail whether there is anything illegal about playing online casinos in Japan.
Contents
It’s a grey area that is neither illegal nor legal at this stage
Why online casinos are a grey area.
Currently, online casinos in Japan are legal in other countries where gambling is not prohibited by law, as they are run from overseas.
Playing at overseas online casinos from Japan is a grey area, as Japanese law does not provide for the use of foreign casinos, and is not punishable by law.
The Japanese laws that prohibit gambling are meant to punish the operator, not the player, so it is unlikely that players will be punished under Japanese law as long as they are operating overseas.
Cases of online casinos becoming illegal
There are cases where online casinos are clearly illegal, even though they should not be legal or illegal under Japanese law.
Here are two examples of cases where online casinos are illegal.
Japanese online casinos operating in Japan
You should never play online casinos whose operators are in Japan, as they are illegal and will be ruled by Japanese law.
Also, even if you play at a legal online casino abroad, you should never play at a store-based online casino facility called Incaji, as it is illegal to play there.
No government-issued license
Since a requirement for foreign online casinos to be legal is that they must have a government issued license, online casinos that do not have a government issued license are illegal.
Online casinos that have a government-issued license are listed on the site, so it is recommended that you check to see if they have a government-issued license before you register with an online casino.
Some arrests have been made for using online casinos.
Online casinos are not illegal as long as they are overseas sites with a government-issued license, but there has been one case in which a player was arrested in the past.
The reason for the arrest was for “playing a live casino where the dealer was Japanese” and the fact that the dealer was Japanese was considered to be a casino for Japanese players.
Because of the strong sense of complication and the resultant lack of prosecution, it is said that the purpose of the arrest case was to check the use of online casinos, which cannot be ruled on under Japanese law.
What will happen to online casinos in the future?
Online casinos are currently in a grey area where they are neither legal nor illegal, but the situation may change due to the casino bill that was passed in 2016.
The casino bill itself is unrelated to online casinos, so it won’t have a direct impact, but it will allow casinos, which are illegal in Japan, to be tolerated, so the casino bill could be the catalyst for legislation.
We don’t know what will happen in the future, but at this stage, it’s still a grey area, so if you want to play at an online casino, you need to do so at your own risk.
Let’s keep an eye on the future of the legislation.
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