Japanese lawmakers from both the ruling party and the opposition have agreed to pass a bill during the ongoing Diet assembly to revise the existing gambling legislation and, with that, ban online casinos.
The new bill aims to enforce stricter measures against online casinos and gambling-related harm, and was agreed after extensive consultations between parliamentary groups and eight political parties.
From here, the new changes will include a ban on both opening and operating online casinos, plus restrictions on gambling advertisements and directing Japanese users to online gambling platforms via social media platforms and other similar channels.
Lawmakers from Japan are expected to forward the bill to the House of Representatives’ Committee on Cabinet by the end of May, and according to insider information, it is very likely to be passed by the end of the current Diet session.
In addition, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications has also created a panel of experts to investigate potential safety measures to block access to online casinos, and this will include blocking connections to online gambling platforms.
The revised Japanese gambling bill will call upon local and central governments to create public awareness campaigns aimed at informing people that online casinos are illegal in the country. Despite this, the bill won’t include penalty provisions, which in turn raises questions about the effectiveness of the bill in the long run.
The National Policy Agency of Japan issued a report in March 2025 that shows approximately 3.3 million people in Japan visited online casinos in 2024, with the year-on-year bets amounting to ¥1.2 trillion ($7.4 billion).
According to the report, most users from Japan weren’t aware that this type of activity is illegal under the current Japanese laws, regardless that their use is banned under the present Penal Code.
