5% of the Japanese adults suffer from gambling addiction

A recent study by the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Social Welfare estimated that nearly 5% of adults in the country are suffering from gambling addiction.
Such a high quota is quite alarming, since it is five times higher than the international average.
The publication of this research comes just in time as the government has to decide whether to legalise casinos in the archipelago.
This issue revived the debate about the issue.

Some figures

The scientists that carried out this study found that about 5.36 million Japanese adults (equivalent to about 4.8% of the adult population in Japan), potentially suffer from an addiction to gambling.
They also found that this increased dependence has derived from alcohol consumption and gambling on the Internet.
Especially the spread of mobile technology and the increased quality of digital content can explain these results.
The scientists interviewed 7,000 Japanese adults spread across the country, to carry out the study that was conducted last year.
They found that 8.7% of adult men in Japan and 1.8% of adult women matched the internationally recognized definition of a compulsive gambler.

Gambling in Japan

At the moment, the country of the rising sun does not have any land-based casinos in their territory, and they are still prohibited by law.
Nevertheless, the country is full of pachinko halls.
Pachinko is a game that looks like a cross between a pinball machine and a slot machine.
It is not possible to win money at these machines, but you can win small collectibles and other prizes.
This game is incredibly popular and represents a market that generates about 22 billion euros in revenue each year.
It should also be said that sports betting and horse racing bets are legal, and they are very popular with players.
The national lottery is also just as popular as these other types of gambling.

Debates on the issue of the social impact of gambling

Noriko Tanaka, head of the campaign group Society Concerned about the Gambling Addiction, said that there is an absolute lack of preventive education on the subject of gambling addiction in Japan.
The campaign group does not want to ban gambling.
They recognize that it has its own economic merits.
However, they wants to discuss the negative impacts on society and the economy.