Japan's lower house passes casino bill amid divided party, public opinion

Japan's lower house of parliament on Tuesday passed a bill to legalize casino gambling in Japan despite both parties being divided on the issue and some opposition parties staging a walk out during the vote.

The legislation is aimed primarily at enhancing revenue from tourism by allowing integrated resort facilities, some of which may have shopping malls, large conference halls and other entertainment facilities located in the same establishments as the casinos.

Currently, casinos are banned under Japanese law, but gambling in other forms is permitted such as at pachinko parlors (by way of a payout loophole) and on horse racing and motorboat races. National lotteries, and "toto" betting (football pools) are also permitted under special legal provisions.

But while the majority of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) backed the bill, as the casinos are thought to be capable of generating revenue well beyond the uptick expected from tourism related to the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics in 2020, other parties voiced concerns about the casinos' potential negative effects on society.

Some members of the LDP's junior coalition ally Komeito party voted against the bill on concerns that the casinos could lead to increased instances of gambling addiction here and create opportunities for nefarious organizations and organized crime syndicates to operate in the shadows of the casinos.

"This clears a path to privatized gambling. I question whether it will really benefit the economy," Komeito acting secretary general Shigeyuki Tomita was quoted as telling a press briefing having voted against the legislation Tuesday.

Secretary General Yoshihisa Inoue and Diet Affairs Committee Chairman Yoshinori Oguchi were also among those who voted against the bill that has divided both parties' and public opinion.

The main opposition Democratic Party, Liberal Party and Social Democratic Party staged a walk out during the vote and the Japanese Communist Party voted against the legislation.

Collectively, the opposition camp believes that there has not been enough time allocated for due deliberations on the casino bill as it only entered the lower house committee last Wednesday and have said the bill has been forced through the lower house using the time constraint.

To this end, Democratic Party Diet Affairs Chairman Kazunori Yamanoi was quoted as saying that the passing of the bill would not be accepted by the public.

"The public absolutely cannot understand how a bill allowing casinos could be voted on after just six hours of deliberation," said Yamanoi, as the LDP is gearing up to have the bill passed in the upper house on Friday after rushed deliberations on Wednesday, with the current Diet session scheduled to end on Dec. 14.

The major cities of Tokyo, Yokohama and Osaka have all been slated as possible locations for the casino resorts, but the public remain perturbed as reflected in an editorial on the matter carried in a major daily recently stating that: "Gamblers' losses are what makes the casinos money. It's truly unhealthy to build a growth strategy on exploiting others people's misfortune and bad luck." Endit