Inside Asian Gaming

INSIDE ASIAN GAMING MAY 2018 36 COLUMNISTS While everyone has a My Number, only a limited number of Japanese actually carry the card with them which will present its own challenges. The current draft of the bill also includes a ¥6,000 (US$54) casino levy or entrance fee for locals. The casino floor will be limited in size as a percentage of the entire integrated resort. Many of these same measures have in some form or fashion been applied in Singapore and give stakeholders insight into best practices. Japanese media, while having general concerns about integrated resorts, have also expressed concerns on the casino levy which should be, and is, an admission fee. In a recent editorial by The Tokyo Shimbun , they noted that the ¥6,000 admission fee and weekly/monthly restrictions on casino visits will do nothing to curb gambling excesses. Noriko Tanaka, who oversees a foundation that addresses gambling addiction, stated in a blog that the admission fee is “pointless” as it will do nothing to affect those that may have a problem with gambling or are compulsive gamblers. It will only discourage those recreational gamblers that want to gamble responsibly because the ¥6,000 entrance fee is “nothing” to someone that is a compulsive gambler. Singapore’s experience with casino levies can serve as an example of how a casino levy may be a true social safeguard on compulsive gambling or merely a tax on residents when a profound majority gamble responsibly. The most recent survey on gambling in Singapore showed that there is a high percentage of Singaporeans that are gambling but the percentage that have a problem with gambling has statistically remained the same. While there are differing opinions towards integrated resorts among Japan’s population, one that is consistent in surveys is that the people of Japan are concerned about gambling addiction. Problem gambling measures will form a key component of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe ’s IR legislation