Legislation is being prepared by the government and the ruling coalition parties to set the rules for operating casinos. This is a follow-up to the law enacted in 2016 legalizing casinos in this country, where gambling is legally prohibited in principle but gambling addiction is deemed a serious social problem. The development of integrated resort facilities featuring casinos has been promoted as a means to attract more inbound tourists to Japan, and to generate jobs and other economic benefits for host areas. But a key point of discussion over the pending legislation has been how to restrict the entry of resident customers to casinos to prevent them from exacerbating their gambling addiction.

A plan proposed last month by the government to the Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner Komeito says that Japanese and non-Japanese residents will not be allowed to enter a casino more than three times over a seven-day period — or more than 10 times a month. They will be required to present their My Number personal identification cards for the purpose of entry records, and will be charged a ¥2,000 entry fee. Tourists from overseas will not be subject to the regulation or required to pay an entry fee.

It is debatable whether restricting the frequency of visits to casinos or imposing an entry fee will serve as adequate deterrence against gambling addiction. But the proposals hardly sound prohibitive. They will allow people to spend time in casinos nearly half the week — or a third of the month. The entry fee was reportedly set at ¥2,000 after an online survey by the government showed that people's willingness to visit casinos starts to decline if such a fee is set at ¥3,000 or higher. The proposed rules thus appear to be token regulations that will not deter Japanese customers from using the casinos.