Pros and Cons on Casinomics

Expecting positive impact on economy, the Diet passed the Integrated Resort bill that would promote building casino for foreign visitors or Japanese gamblers. While casino does not yield any profit from productive activity, the Japanese discuss casino in terms of morality. Addiction to gambling is the great topic, making the level of discussion quite low.

Asahi Shimbun and Mainichi Shimbun collected various opinions on whether gambling was right or wrong for economic policy. A member of House of Representatives with Liberal Democratic Party and Secretary General of Lawmakers League for International Tourism Industry Promotion, Takeshi Iwaya, insisted that integrated resort would be an effective tool for building a country based on tourism. “To maintain power of nation in demographic shrinking and aged society, Japan has to be a hub in Asian region, where people, commodity or information is exchanged,” said Iwaya in an interview to Mainichi. He expects ¥2 trillion of investment for building two or three resorts in Japan.

President of Osaka Commercial College, Ichiro Tanioka, distinguishes integrated resort from casino in Asahi Shimbun. He expects integrated resort to invite international conference to Japan. “Although international conference facility in Ariake, Tokyo, was among the top ten of the world in terms of the size, it has been degraded to the seventy-twice now,” told Tanioka. He wants to take back something gone to other Asian countries.

Some indicate negative impact of addiction to gambling. A member of group for the people addictive to gambling, Keiji Tanaka, revealed his life addictive to pachinko, horse race or boat race in his time of high school student. He was exulted in the mood of illegal casino in Tokyo twenty years ago, where lights were twinkling, bunny girls were enchanting and sushi, beer, barbecue were all free. “I think that looking at someone’s winning encourages gambling mind. My brain was paralyzed, when I saw a man betting ¥500,000 in black jack game and won it,” told Tanaka.

President of Group Thinking about Gambling Addiction, Noriko Tanaka, argued that gambling addiction was a disease registered by World Health Organization. “Gambling causes suicide, accumulated debts, family breakdown, poverty, child abuse, theft or murder. Nevertheless, the government has been leaving this problem aside. I want to make Integrated Resort Act a momentum for further measures dealing with gambling addiction,” said Tanaka.

Professor of Shizuoka University, Yoichi Torihata, denies an argument that casino improves economy. “Gambling does not produce any added value. Income of casino is expenditure of visitors. This is a transfer of money from a pocket to another pocket,” insisted Torihata. Japan is challenging Asian casino market, which is already reached a saturation point.