Gambling in Japan: In a Spin

The government has legalised casinos, but Japanese still do not like the idea.
MOST forms of gambling are banned in Japan, but many Japanese still like to have a flutter.
Over ￥23trn ($203bn) is waged annually on Add in lottery tickets, plus horse, boat and bicycle racing—the only other types of betting allowed—and you have a vast industry.
Pachinko players alone spend more than the combined betting revenue of all the casinos in the world’s top gambling resort, Macau.
Japan’s government has struggled to convince citizens that the current strictures should be relaxed.
When the Diet legalised casinos in December after years of political wrangling, a poll by NHK, the country’s public broadcaster, put support for the move at just 12%.
The leader of Komeito, a party with Buddhist roots that is part of the governing coalition, voted against the bill.
Critics said it would exacerbate problem gambling and attract “anti-social forces”, a euphemism for Yakuza gangs.
Shinzo Abe, the prime minister, insists casinos will be only one part of family-friendly resorts, with hotels, shops and conference facilities.
In an anemic economy, his enthusiasm is not hard to understand: the construction of these huge complexes could generate ￥5trn in economic activity—with another ￥2trn a year once they have opened, largely from increased tourism, estimates Makoto Yonekawa of the Daiwa Institute of Research, a think-tank.
Foreign casino-operators have already begun lobbying for a slice of this pie.
Las Vegas Sands, MGM Resorts and Hard Rock Café International are among the companies looking for licences and local partners.
Bureaucrats are crafting more legislation to decide how many resorts to permit and where to put them.
This, say analysts, is where the road could get bumpy.

日本政府对于赌场的合法化处理并没有受到人们欢迎。
虽然日本禁止了大部分的赌博项目，但是许多日本民众还是喜欢小赌一把。
每年柏青哥（一种热闹、形式多样的弹球游戏）产业就能创造23万亿日元的收入（约2030亿美元）。
再加上彩票、赛马、赛船、赛车等（其他几种能进行赌博的项目），这实际上是个蕴藏巨大商机的产业。
柏青哥玩家们在这一个项目上投入的钱要超过世界顶级赌场胜地澳门的各大赌场收入的总和。
日本政府一直试图让民众相信目前严格的博彩业管理是可以适度放松的。
日本放送协会（日本最大的广播电视机构）做了一项民意调查，结果显示，当国会经过几年考虑最终于12月同意将赌博合法化时，这项举动的支持率只有12%。
日本公明党（与佛教组织有密切关系，现为日本联合政府一部分的党派）领袖投票否决此法案。
批评家们说这项规定将恶化问题赌博并且会引起反社会分子（也就是日本黑道）的注意。
首相安倍晋三坚称赌场将会是有利于家庭生活的、带有宾馆、商店和会议设施的胜地。
在没有活力的经济情况下，安倍的热情并不是很难理解，因为日本大和研究所的智囊团中的Makoto Yonekawa认为这样巨大的圣地会在经济活动方面产生5万亿美元，一旦这些场所开了之后，还会产生2万亿美元，这些收益来自不断增强的旅游业。
外国赌场经营商们已经在暗中争取经营许可权，寻求当地合作伙伴，从而能及时分得一杯羹。
拉斯维加斯金沙集团、米高梅度假村硬石咖啡国际集团就位列其中。
官员就在不停规划赌场区。
而这就是分析家们说的“不好做”的地方。