Japanese online casinos for Real Money

Japan’s gambling laws form a part of its Criminal Code. There are some exceptions, but for the most part, Japan doesn’t tolerate gambling. If you’re interested in betting on horse racing, that option is open to you.

Similarly, the petrol and engine-mad Japanese also permit betting on selected motorsports. Traditional games like pachinko, mah-jong and the national lottery are also deemed legal ways to gamble online.

Western games like poker, blackjack and roulette are typically illegal, but there are underground venues where these games are played. The Japanese are quick to shut them down where they spring up, but many Yakuza-run underground establishments remain. These are not the types of places the average Japanese wants to get involved in. There are no land-based casinos present in the Asian island nation, so that solves that problem. Some Japanese head over to Macau to gamble in land-based venues, and that is deemed okay.

When it comes to online gambling, there is more wiggle room. Now, officially, Japan has outlawed online gambling. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean that you can’t gamble on games. The Criminal Code of Japan is quite vague when it comes to online gambling. Yes, technically, any form of gambling (save for the precious few exceptions listed above) is illegal, and yet there are many sites based offshore that cater to Japanese players.

Japan doesn’t want its nationals and residents gambling at online casinos; that much is clear. However, they don’t actively take steps to prevent it. They do not block foreign and offshore casinos that cater to Japanese players, nor do they prosecute Japanese who play at said sites. This is seemingly part of the compromise, walking the tightrope between those nationals who oppose gambling and those who support it.

Japan has talked about legalising land-based casinos as a means to drum up tourism from Asia, where gambling is gaining in popularity. However, no moves have been made in that regard. Similarly, there are no real authorities to hand out gambling licenses to any land-based or online casinos that might emerge in the future.

The primary company allowed to offer gambling games in Japan is Takarakuji. This is a state-owned lottery company. They provide games such as Loto 6, Loto 7 and Mini Loto. Tickets can be bought online (only at the monopoly’s website) and in land-based outlets.

Casino gambling is not as popular in Japan as you might imagine. There are lots of Western-style games that tend to do the rounds, including those already mentioned. However, the Japanese prefer to play poker and bet on sports. These two are the leading games to gamble on in the country, not counting the fully legal lottery options, of course. Most Japanese casinos (all of which are based offshore) provide live dealer games, and some titles, such as baccarat, Sic Bo and table poker, are gaining in popularity. Sadly, precious few of the games that are popular in Japan can be played in Japanese at these offshore sites.

While the country is famous for its video game developers, there aren’t many software providers offering gambling games to the masses. The one exception is Konami, which has made the jump from the video gaming world to the online gambling one rather successfully. It may be a giant in the video game world, but Konami remains a small contender when it comes to the giants of the internet betting world.

The only Japanese casinos you can choose to play at are based offshore. Of these sites, there are two distinct options. There are online casinos that are international and accept players from Japan, and there are online casinos that are based offshore but predominantly cater to players solely from Japan. The difference is night and day.

With the former, you’re literally looking at playing games in English with a worldwide currency, such as the USD, or with cryptocurrencies. However, at Japanese-centric offshore casinos, you are looking at sites that only offer the Japanese language, that accept the JPY currency, and that are virtually non-accessible (because of the language barrier) for non-Japanese speakers. It is these sites that tend to be most frequented by Japanese bettors online.