{"id":777032274,"date":"2025-09-26T08:19:20","date_gmt":"2025-09-26T11:19:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/?p=777032274"},"modified":"2026-04-21T18:45:31","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T21:45:31","slug":"japan-makes-first-arrests-over-online-casino-advertising-in-landmark-crackdown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/japan-makes-first-arrests-over-online-casino-advertising-in-landmark-crackdown","title":{"rendered":"Japan makes first arrests over online casino advertising in landmark crackdown"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Two men are accused of promoting an overseas casino.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Japan.- Police have made the first arrests in connection with online casino advertising after new legislation<\/a> came into force yesterday. Two men are accused of directing local players to an offshore platform that handled an estimated \u00a570bn (US$472m) in wagers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The suspects, including 40-year-old Hisato Yonezawa, allegedly operated the website Onkaji Hissho. Police say the site instructed players on how to register with a Cura\u00e7ao-licensed casino, while a paid Discord group called the Onkaji Hissho Club offered \u201cwinning strategies\u201d for a monthly fee of \u00a510,000 (US$67).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Investigators claim the defendants struck an affiliate deal with the overseas operator in 2021, earning commissions based on betting volume rather than losses. Police estimate that users placed wagers worth hundreds of millions of dollars, sometimes using cryptocurrency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Officials stressed the significance of the case, noting it is the first in Japan to target an affiliate website rather than the casino operators themselves. \u201cEven if the casino is legally operated abroad, those who advertise or promote it within Japan are breaking the law,\u201d a senior officer said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Japan’s new legislation bans online casino advertising, celebrity endorsements, ranking sites and affiliate platforms that encourage Japanese residents to gamble abroad.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n\t\t\tSee also:<\/span><\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\tSee also:<\/span> South Korean police bust alleged illegal horse-racing gambling ring<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Two men are accused of promoting an overseas casino.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":680,"featured_media":16944,"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 made the first arrests under new legislation targeting online casino advertising, apprehending two individuals accused of operating an affiliate website, Onkaji Hissho, which directed local players to a Cura\u00e7ao-licensed offshore platform. This landmark case, involving an estimated \u00a570bn in wagers, signifies a critical shift in regulatory enforcement by targeting affiliate marketing rather than the primary operators. The new law explicitly prohibits various forms of online gambling promotion within Japan, irrespective of the offshore casino's legal status.","focusai_entities":"Hisato Yonezawa, Onkaji Hissho, Onkaji Hissho Club","focusai_location":"Japan, Cura\u00e7ao","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.9), regulator (1.0), compliance_legal (1.0), operator_casino (0.9), affiliate_publisher (1.0), product_ux (0.7), tech_data (0.7), marketing_crm (0.9), payments_fraud_aml (0.8), investor_analyst (0.9), supplier_vendor (0.8), journalist_researcher (1.0)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"Japan Affiliate Enforcement","query":"What are the specific implications for international iGaming operators and B2B suppliers regarding their affiliate marketing strategies and geo-blocking protocols in light of Japan's new legislation and this precedent-setting enforcement action?"},{"label":"Regulatory Framework Impact","query":"How might this enforcement action in Japan influence other Asian jurisdictions considering stricter regulatory frameworks for online gambling advertising and cross-border affiliate activities?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[16338,439],"tags":[24805,470],"class_list":["post-777032274","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-east-asia-news","category-legal-news","tag-advertisments","tag-japan"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777032274","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\/680"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=777032274"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777032274\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":777032287,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777032274\/revisions\/777032287"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16944"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=777032274"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=777032274"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=777032274"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}