Japan’s Upper House Passes New Gambling Addiction Countermeasures Bill

Japan’s Integrated Resorts (IR) Implementation Bill has faced a lot of opposition mainly due to concerns that problem gambling will increase in the country once the casino industry becomes full-fledged.

To offset these concerns and push the IR bill through, Japanese legislators introduced the “Gambling Countermeasures Bill” which looks to provide solutions to the concerns over problem gambling.

The “Gambling Countermeasures Bill” was passed by legislators and this cleared the way for the IR bill to be reviewed by the upper house last Friday. The “Gambling Countermeasures Bill” passed with little opposition after it received a 183-46 vote in Japan’s parliament.

The Countermeasures bill as the name suggests address problem gambling and the issues that might crop up from having a regulated casino industry in the country. The bill recognizes that a regulated gambling industry will also see an increase in problem gambling and other social issues which the bill looks to address and provide solutions on how Japan should go about dealing with them.

The bill received some final additions when it reached the home stretch. With the additional of 11 supplementary resolutions, the bill ensures that the anti-gambling measures in the bill would be studied and implemented.

Some of these resolutions look pretty good. One ensures that research into gambling addiction is done, along with suggestions on how to combat it. It also outlines how the government should respond to problem gamblers. Additionally, education campaigns on the dangers of gambling addiction are to be implemented so that Japan would know what to look for and how to treat it.

Japan’s IR Bill Expected To Pass Before July 22

With the passage of the bill, President Shinzo Abe’s government can now start the debate on the IR Implementation Bill. The debate in the upper house of Parliament will start on July 10 and it is expected to be heavily discussed and debated in the coming days. The government is confident that it will be able to pass the IR bill before the end of the extended session on July 22.

The lower house passed the IR bill and it is now the upper house’s turn to vote on it. With the coalition government’s people being a majority in the upper house, the bill will surely pass. This bill will allow for three Integrated Resort casinos to be licensed in Japan in its first phase.