May 24, 2018

Casino operators will be allowed to lend money to gamblers under a casino implementation bill which the Abe regime seeks to enact in the current Diet session, allowing gamblers to take out a loan and go into debt in order to continue to gamble.

A credit- and quick-loan victims' organization, however, issued a statement on May 23, arguing that lending casino visitors cash will deepen the problem of gambling addiction and demanding that the bill be abolished.

At present, amusement facilities such as pachinko parlors as well as the state-controlled gambling in horseracing and football do not lend money directly to customers. Despite that, many people fall into a debt trap from gambling.

The victims' organization criticizes the bill for creating an incentive for players to keep spending money they do not have and warns that more people will incur heavy debts.

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The ruling parties and pro-casino parliamentarians are supposedly trying to implement countermeasures against gambling addiction.

Japanese Communist Party member of the House of Representatives Shiokawa Tetsuya on May 23 attended a House committee meeting where debate on a bill to prevent gambling addiction took place.

Shiokawa asked an LDP lawmaker, the bill sponsor, "Is the purpose of the countermeasures against habitual gambling to reduce the number of addicts?" The LDP member answered, "That's right."

Shiokawa asked again, "Don't you think casinos would increase gambling dependence by offering loans?" The response to this was, "The casino implementation bill has regulations to minimize addiction," implying that casino gambling will bring about new addicts.

Shiokawa demanded that both the casino implementation bill and the gambling harm prevention bill be scrapped by saying, "Prevention of gambling addiction and promotion of casino gambling contradict each other."

Past related articles:
> Public hearing on casino gambling meets severe disapproval [August 18, 2017]
> Gambling-induced economic loss could be five times more than economic ‘benefits’ [February 4 & 7, 2017]