Japan runs one of the strictest gambling regimes among large economies, and it is strict in an unusual direction: the criminal liability falls on the person placing the bet, not only on the operator taking it.
Four guides sit under this heading. The first covers the Penal Code position and the revision of the addiction countermeasures act that took effect on 25 September 2025. The second explains how winnings are taxed as temporary income. The third lists the betting that is legal, from the four public racing sports to the lottery. The fourth describes the integrated resort framework and the entry rules that will apply to residents when the Osaka casino opens.
Photo: Martin Falbisoner — CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Japan rules
Japan rules
Japan rules
Japan rules