The richest country of Asia, Japan, has banned gambling. Under the Criminal Code chapter 23 of the country’s law, gambling is illegal, only with a few exceptions.
Casino gambling, online gambling and cruise gambling are prohibited in the country. Gambling in sports, however, is still legal. There are certain public sports such as keiba or horse racing, keirin or bicycle racing, kyōtei or motor boat racing and auto racing where people are allowed to gamble freely during these races. The winner of these gambling races usually receives around 75-80% of the total sale. Lottery gambling is also legal within the country. While gambling with lotteries, the payouts are very high. It is for this reason that people prefer takarakuji or lottery gambling than any other form of gambling sports. Scratch cards, unique numbers and selected number lotteries are played in Japan. The highest cash prize often reaches more than 100 million yen. The cash earned by the government from these gambling games goes to charity and relief funds. The gambling money, which is referred by many as sinful money, has saved and rescued the life of many citizens at times of need. The government of Japan, like the governments of many countries, coverts these dirty money in to white money.
Gambling is done in soccer games too. The government earns huge revenues through these J. League games. There is also a slot game, known as pachinko or pin ball games. Gambling in these games is not prohibited in the legal sense of terms, as no mention of these games is made in the Criminal Code. Pachinko parlors can be seen all over the country and this game is these games can be operated by the private companies also. Just like the lottery games, pin ball games also has a very high payout, it one of the favorite gambling games of the country. Thus, gambling in Japan takes place under stringent government laws.