Gambling in Japan can be traced back to the 8th century and the introduction of a game like backgammon. Professional gamblers, known as Bakuto emerged during a time when gambling was rampant in Japan, especially in Kyoto.
Due to the rise in gambling, without any legislation, violence became commonplace but thankfully, that has been eradicated in the 21st century. Gambling has become hugely popular in Japan and one of the latest additions to the gambling scene is cryptocurrency. What impact has crypto had on the Japanese gambling industry?
What you'll learn 👉
Online Gambling in Japan
Interestingly, operating land based casinos remains largely illegal in Japan. There have been attempts in the country to obtain three legal licenses for casino resorts in Japan, with Tokyo, Osaka, and Yokohama the preferred destinations. In terms of online gambling, there are no specific laws that prohibit people from accessing online casinos and playing games.
Many of the online casinos available in Japan are from other countries and the Japanese government is still keen to crack down on any online casinos operating from within the country. However, there are two exceptions to this and the Japanese Racing Association and Japanese Lottery can both operate online. These are state owned gambling practices and in terms of the former, once you have registered with the JRA, you can process bets online and connect them to your bank account.
Pachinko and Other Amusements
In addition to horse racing betting and the lottery, Pachinko is a form of legal gambling in Japan. In fact, Pachinko is the biggest sector of the Japanese gambling industry and there are millions of people in the country who play the game. Come the end of 2021, the total turnover of race betting in Japan amounted to approximately 7.41 trillion Japanese yen.
However, the revenue generated from Japan’s amusement arcades, including Pachinko was approximately 16 trillion Japanese yen, with much of this money generated from gambling. The gambling industry in Japan is a multi-trillion Japanese yen operation, which means it is massive in terms of the number of people participating and the revenue generated.
Crypto Gambling
The introduction of crypto gambling in Japan has had an enormous impact on the industry. Cryptocurrency gambling allows people to bet using virtual currencies, such as Bitcoin (BTC), and Ethereum (ETH). Gambling using crypto is considered safer than regular forms of online gambling and that alone is one reason crypto is having a major impact on gambling in Japan.
Transactions using crypto are quicker than using regular currency and many young adults in Japan have invested in cryptocurrency. There are now several crypto casino online like stake casino created specifically for those who want to play casino games using cryptocurrency. A popular crypto online game that can be played using crypto, such as bitcoin, is plinko. The aim of plinko is to score as much as you can with the discs dropped from the top of the game board. There are pins in the board and as the discs drop, they are deflected in different directions.
The pins are what makes plinko a game of chance and the online crypto based version plays in a comparable way. You have several credits and below the game board there is a drop button. When pressed, the discs will drop from the top of the board and land in the different segments at the bottom, each with a number. The total is calculated and converted into winnings.
With millions of people who love to gamble in Japan, it is little wonder crypto gaming is taking off. Thanks to the safety and speed of crypto transactions, online crypto casinos are quickly becoming established in Japan.
