{"id":777027304,"date":"2025-06-04T09:05:43","date_gmt":"2025-06-04T12:05:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/?p=777027304"},"modified":"2026-04-21T22:18:22","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T01:18:22","slug":"man-arrested-in-japan-for-alleged-illegal-online-gambling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/man-arrested-in-japan-for-alleged-illegal-online-gambling","title":{"rendered":"Man arrested in Japan for alleged illegal online gambling"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Chomabayashi is accused of spending JPY28bn on online gambling and promoting the activity on social media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Japan.- A man named Makoto Chomabayashi has been arrested in Japan for alleged online gambling and for promoting a site to new players.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Japanese news outlet The Asahi Shimbun, Chomabayashi allegedly wagered JPY90m (US$625,500) mainly on baccarat on Stake from August 2022 to April this year. Investigators believe he may have placed the total amount he wagered may have been as high as JPY28bn. The Metropolitan Police Department said he admitted to the charges and accepted that he knew online gambling is illegal in Japan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chomabayashi is also suspected of promoting the gambling site by posting pictures of his gambling wins on X, using the name Meikyo Shisui, which means \u201cpolished mirror, still water\u201d or a \u201cclear and serene mind\u201d. Investigators think he referred over 100 players to the platform and earned about\u00a0US$48,000\u00a0in commissions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Japan\u2019s lower house approves bill to ban online casinos<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Yesterday (June 3), Japan\u2019s House of Representatives approved a bill that woul amend the Basic Law for Countermeasures against Gambling Addiction to ban operating and promoting online casinos in the country. The legislation passed with a majority vote and will now be debated in the House of Councillors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s expected that the proposal will be enacted during the current parliamentary session. Both national and local governments would publicise the illegality of online casinos. In March, the\u00a0National Police Agency (NPA)\u00a0said\u00a03.37 million people in the country<\/a> had gambled at online casinos, spending around JPY1.24tn (US$8.4bn) annually.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

See also:<\/strong> Japanese bettors wagered US$45bn on offshore gambling sites in 2024<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chomabayashi is accused of spending JPY28bn on online gambling and promoting the activity on social media.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":176,"featured_media":19395,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"Japanese authorities have arrested Makoto Chomabayashi for allegedly wagering JPY90m (potentially JPY28bn) on offshore online gambling platforms and promoting these activities on social media, earning commissions from referred players. This enforcement action coincides with Japan's House of Representatives approving a bill to ban the operation and promotion of online casinos, signaling a significant tightening of the regulatory landscape against unregulated iGaming.","focusai_entities":"Makoto Chomabayashi, Stake, The Asahi Shimbun, Metropolitan Police Department, X, Meikyo Shisui, House of Representatives, House of Councillors, National Police Agency (NPA)","focusai_location":"Japan","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.9), regulator (1.0), compliance_legal (1.0), operator_casino (0.9), affiliate_publisher (1.0), marketing_crm (0.9), payments_fraud_aml (0.8), investor_analyst (0.9), supplier_vendor (0.7), journalist_researcher (1.0)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"Offshore Operator Impact","query":"What are the projected financial and operational implications for offshore iGaming operators currently deriving significant gross gaming revenue (GGR) from the Japanese market, given the escalating enforcement and legislative efforts?"},{"label":"Affiliate Compliance Risks","query":"How will the proposed ban on promoting online casinos in Japan necessitate a re-evaluation of affiliate marketing strategies and compliance protocols for entities targeting Japanese consumers, particularly concerning geo-blocking and content legality?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[16338,439],"tags":[29,470,4138],"class_list":["post-777027304","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-east-asia-news","category-legal-news","tag-casino","tag-japan","tag-online-gambling"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777027304","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/176"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=777027304"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777027304\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":777027329,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777027304\/revisions\/777027329"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19395"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=777027304"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=777027304"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=777027304"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}