Gambling in Japan, explained

What the law actually says, what happens to the money, and how the games are built — written for readers who want the mechanics, not the marketing.

Photo: Alexkom000 — CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Japan treats gambling more strictly than almost any other large economy, and it does so from an unusual direction: the criminal liability for a bet falls on the person who places it.

That single fact shapes everything else here. Four forms of public betting are legal and sold through official channels; the first casino resort is still years from opening and will charge residents to walk in; and the offshore market that a browser can reach sits outside both. These pages keep those three worlds apart, state the rule that applies in each, and then explain the money and the mathematics that work the same way wherever the reader happens to be.

Casino sites that publish a yen welcome figure

Figures below are the welcome offers published for Japan by the operators themselves or by Japanese review portals; nothing here is converted or estimated. No online casino holds a Japanese licence, and betting from inside Japan is an offence under the Penal Code — this is a description of the market, not a recommendation to play.

Sports betting tooCrypto acceptedLive dealer tables

1
DragonSlotsCuraçao licence · no Japanese licenceLive dealer tables
Welcome package up to ¥365,000 (up to 225%)Online since 2024
Go to site What we know
2
20betCuraçao licence · no Japanese licenceSports betting tooCrypto acceptedLive dealer tables
100% up to ¥15,000 + 120 free spinsWagering 40x · Min deposit ¥1,500 · Online since 2020
Go to site What we know
3
National CasinoCuraçao licence · no Japanese licenceCrypto acceptedLive dealer tables
100% up to ¥12,000 + 100 free spinsWagering 40x · Min deposit ¥2,500 · Online since 2020
Go to site What we know
4
22betCuraçao licence · no Japanese licenceSports betting tooCrypto acceptedLive dealer tables
100% up to ¥49,500 + 30 free spinsWagering 50x · Min deposit ¥1,650 · Online since 2017
Go to site What we know
5
MegapariOffshore licence · no Japanese licenceSports betting too
Up to ¥17,500 on the first depositWagering 35x · Online since 2019
Go to site What we know
6
WazambaCuraçao licence · no Japanese licenceCrypto accepted
100% up to ¥65,000 + 200 free spinsWagering 35x · Min deposit ¥2,600 · Online since 2019
Go to site What we know
7
ParipesaOffshore licence · no Japanese licenceSports betting tooYen balances
100% up to ¥15,000 on the first depositOnline since 2019
Go to site What we know
8
1winCuraçao licence · no Japanese licenceSports betting tooCrypto acceptedLive dealer tables
100% up to ¥75,000 + 70 free spinsWagering 30x · Min deposit ¥2,000 · Online since 2016
Go to site What we know

Show all 8

Figures are the welcome offers the operators or Japanese review portals have published; we do not convert or estimate amounts. Links marked “Go to site” are commercial. Online casino play from within Japan is an offence under the Penal Code, and this list is a description of the market, not an invitation to play.

Start with the rules

The four questions readers arrive with.

All Japan rules

Is it legal?

Penal Code articles 185 and 186, and the advertising ban of 2025.

Tax on winnings

Temporary income, the 500,000 yen deduction and the halving step.

What is allowed

Four racing sports, the football lottery and the national lottery.

The Osaka casino

Entry fee, visit caps and an opening set for autumn 2030.

Guides

One question each, answered and closed.

All guides

Japan rules

Pachinko And Online Slots

Pachinko is regulated as entertainment and never pays cash inside the parlour; an online slot pays a cash balance and falls under the gambling articles. How the two differ in practice.

September 18, 2026

Japan rules

Online Casinos And Japanese Law

Betting from inside Japan is an offence for the player, and since 25 September 2025 advertising overseas casino sites is banned too. What remains legal.

September 18, 2026

Japan rules

Tax On Gambling Winnings

Winnings count as temporary income: total, minus the expenses that produced them, minus the 500,000 yen deduction, then halved. The filing threshold and the two exempt cases.

September 18, 2026

Japan rules

Betting That Japan Allows

Horse, bicycle, motorboat and auto racing, the football lottery and the national lottery — who runs each, where they are sold and how the winnings are taxed.

September 18, 2026

Japan rules

The Osaka Casino Rules

Japan’s first integrated resort is due in autumn 2030 on Yumeshima. Residents face an identity check, a 6,000 yen entry fee per 24 hours and hard limits on visits.

September 18, 2026

Payments

Yen Accounts And Conversion

A conversion happens at least twice, and the cost is a margin in the rate rather than a visible fee. What that means for a balance that moves often.

September 18, 2026

Method

The shortlist, and what stands behind it

Eleven operators run a Japanese language site. Eight of them publish a welcome figure in yen that can be checked against a second source, and those eight are the list. The ordering model and the commercial arrangement behind the links are written down rather than implied.

How we rate