How Japanese People Play Online Games and Casinos
In recent years, online gambling has evolved in Japan with online casinos and online gaming both seeing a surge of popularity. This popularity is being driven by many factors, but a huge factor for the popularity of online casinos in Japan (オンラインカジノ) is that they offer the same activities as land-based physical casinos: from scratch cards and games of strategy such as Blackjack and roulette to slots.
This has proven to be attractive to the players since it is illegal to operate a casino in Japan, but it is not illegal to play online casino games as a consumer, and this is something that many Japanese people take advantage of.
What Kind of Casino Games are Popular in Japan?
One of the most popular mainstream online casino games in Japan is poker, with other casino games that are enjoyed amongst the population including blackjack, online slot machines, and roulette.
Moving away, slightly, from the mainstream, interactive online “game shows” are also hugely popular in Japan, and many of these kinds of games are also unique to the country. Amongst the older generation, online bingo is also incredibly popular: and this popularity is beginning to spread down to the younger generations too.
When thinking about games that are traditionally Japanese, it is impossible not to think about Pachinko. If you’ve never heard of this game, which has been widely enjoyed across Japan for decades, then you need to know that it is a kind of pinball game. It involves elements of gambling, and requires players to put a ball into the pachinko machine then pulls a handle.
This then triggers a spring and puts the ball into the game. The player then beats a range of flippers and other barriers, and when the ball finishes the result of the game is decided. There can be no arguing that this is one of the most popular and widely played casino games in Japan, but it is trickier than the other games listed to play online.
That is because pachinko isn’t played for cash but for a voucher, and it is impossible to translate that into a digitlisable, monetizable casino game. However, it’s not all bad news: it is possible to play pachinko online as a free online casino game option, meaning that it is a great way to practice your gameplay and hone your skills when you’re not able to play in a land-based parlor.
The Online Gambling Industry in Japan Will Only Grow It is widely acknowledged that the administrative attitude to gambling in Japan is incredibly old-fashioned, and this makes the idea of playing online complicated and confusing for many Japanese players.
But overall, live casino gaming is only on the rise in the country, and as a result, the government is weighing up the possibility of opening up the national gambling industry with what has been christened the Integrated Resorts bill. It is hoped that as a result of this bill, the gambling industry across Japan will open up, and welcome a whole new raft of consumers.
