After officially proposing the implementation of a ¥2,000 casino entrance fee, the Japanese Government has started to consider a possible increase of of this admission fee. As Casino Guardian has previously reported, the so-called Integrated Resorts Casinos are considered some of the major attractions that could boost the number of visitors of the country, amid emerging concerns of spreading problem gambling.
The new move of the Government comes after the junior coalition partner of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party – Komeito – disagreed with the originally planned amount of the casino admission fee, saying that ¥2,000-yen tax would be too small. The Prime Minister’s office seems ready to accept an increase of the fee and has promised to announce more details about the fee’s amount by the early March, when the Integrated Resorts bill is expected to be submitted and reviewed over the Diet session.
Last week, the Japanese Government proposed a casino entry fee amounting to ¥2,000 for Japanese residents, but Komeito legislators opposed to the fee calling it too low. According to the coalition partner of the currently ruling Liberal Democrats, such a small fee would not enough to tackle problem gambling behaviour. On the other hand, a representative of the Liberal Democratic Party commented that the fee’s amount needed to be large enough in order to prevent easy admission to casinos.
Casino Admission Fee to Tackle Problem Gambling
The planned casino entry fee’s amount of ¥2,000 came as a result of a web-based survey which was carried out in September 2017, aiming to find out what would be the maximum amount local residents would be ready to pay in order to get access to a casino. At the time when the survey was held, almost half of the respondents (46.9%) said that they would be satisfied with an entry fee of ¥1,000. The number of respondents who would visit a casino sharply declined to 28.4% when the proposed fee was increased to ¥2,000 and fell even more, to 21.7% when the suggested fee went to ¥3,000.
Last week, the Cabinet Secretariat officials agreed that an admission fee of ¥2,000 would be effective in order to efficiently limit local residents’ casino visits. Even though the Japanese Government has shared its willingness to see casinos as a major attraction to more foreign visitors to the country, it is considering further measures to tighten the control on casinos for the local residents.
As Casino Guardian reported, the casino entry fee of ¥2,000 would be imposed only on Japanese residents regardless of their nationality, with the tax being imposed as part of the local Government’s finance measures aimed at ensuring better protection against gambling addiction and gambling-related harm. For the time being, no casino admission fee is planned for foreign visitors of the country.
Previously, the Prime Minister Shinzo Abe revealed that casino restrictions would probably be high in comparison to casino regulatory measures in other countries. For example, most overseas casinos do not collect entry fees from their visitors. The ruling party and especially its junior coalition partner Komeito have expressed their concern with the rising number of gambling addictions and insisted that the amount of the entry fee must be set as the same level as the one in Singapore, which currently amounts to approximately ¥8,000.
- Author
Daniel Williams
