Most forms of gambling in Japan are generally banned by the Criminal Code chapter 23; however, there are several exceptions, including betting on horse racing and certain motor sports.
Public sports, lottery, and toto (football pools) are held under special laws in order to increase the income of national and local governments, as well as to offer a form of entertainment.
Despite Japan’s reputation for being one of the most welcoming nations for fintech, online crypto gambling has struggled to take off in light of the country’s strict regulation. In late March, the blockchain-based, decentralized application (DApp) platform Tron announced that it would block gambling DApps in Japan, bringing the issue of regulating crypto gambling back to public attention. Cointelegraph takes a look at the legal and cultural approaches to gambling in Japan, along with how developers believe attempts to halt crypto gambling can only last so long.
Is online gambling legal in Japan?
Unfortunately, according to Japan Law online gambling is not fully legal in Japan. Japanese government only legalizes online betting for soccer Toto, races and lottery. The odds are worse compare to foreign betting sites. That’s why it worth to play money with foreign bookies such as 안전놀이터 welcomes Japanese players to open account using home address in Japan and use Japanese Yen as preferred currency.
For sports betting, Pinnacle offers betting on almost every sport league around the world including Japanese Sports. You will find the odds on J-League (J1), J-league 2 (J2), Nabisco Cup, Emperors Cup, Super Cup are better with Pinnacle than the local sites.
Toto or J-League Soccer Pools
Betting on the Japanese professional soccer (J-League) also known as “Toto” is another legal sports betting system in the country. Bettors simply have to purchase their tickets at any authorized Toto booths. One does not need to be knowledgeable about the mechanics of the game to bet on it. Sports dailies often have their picks, commonly done randomly.
The standard toto is essentially what European betting sites call accumulators. There are 13 Japanese soccer matches listed on the card. Players make selections of home (1), draw (0) or away (2). Picking all correct on a ¥100 wager the prize is 100 million yen or can be up to 200 million yen if there is carryover. It is also possible to use the card to play singles, doubles and trebles. The payout for winning all games selected is determined by the amounts others have wagered and how much others have won.
Keiba or Horse Racing
This equestrian sport has over 21,000 races annually. Japan has three kinds of horse racing including jump racing, flat racing, and Ban’ei racing or draft racing.
All of the major horse racing in Japan is under the supervision of the Japan Racing Association (JRA) of the federal government to ensure that all races are of high quality and efficiency. Non-JRA tracks are under the National Association of Racing (NAR).
Horse racing has a long history in Japan. Since at least early-eight-century horse races were conducted at major shrines and temples featuring competition among samurai. The May race at Kamigamo Shrine in Kyoto began in the eleventh century and over 800 years later is still an annual event. As for modern horse racing, this was introduced by foreigners living in Yokohama in 1861. In 1907 it became a legal form of betting. However, during the latter part of World War II racing was suspended.
