Japanese Entertainment Culture Posted Mar 31, 2021

Japan is one of the countries yet to legalize gambling. The Criminal Code 23 forbids anyone from engaging in online gambling, but that does not include some motorsports and racing. Also, some licensed offshore casinos provide entertainment and bet money to the Japanese people as long as they use VPNs to access these sites. The government knows that players access these offshore casinos, but there is not much that can be done to prevent this from happening.

Gambling in Japan

The discussion on whether or not to loosen the rules around Japanese gambling has been ongoing for a long while. In 2000, a former mayor started a petition to open a land-based casino in Odaiba, but the government shot the idea down even with all the public interest it generated. The reason given was that Japanese people were not used to gambling, and so they would easily be swayed into it and get addicted.

In 2018, a bill was approved to open casinos in three different locations that were going to be under the integrated resorts (IRs). Locals were only allowed to be there three times a week, and the entry fee was set at 6,000 yen to discourage addiction and access to the young.

Even with the restrictions, young Japanese residents still find ways to access the best casino in the country with a $1 minimum deposit. Because of the restrictions, finding a $1 deposit casino that is licensed and certified as safe for players is quite hard, but with the right resources you can. There are sites dedicated to writing reviews for online casinos that also offer a good bonus to beginners and seasoned players.

If a minimum deposit of $1 is unavailable in your area code, you can always check out sites that review those limiting it to $5. CasinosCanadaReviews offers more online casino options with minimum dollar deposits that you can trust. The trick is to go through the reviews to see which casino suits the gambling needs of someone located in your area.

Pachinko Parlors

There are so many pachinko parlors in Japan, and you will easily spot them since they are colorfully decorated. Pachinko is the slots form of gambling in a country where people love gambling without getting on the wrong side of the law. Pachinko gambling is worth around $180.3bn (JPY19.5tn). Winnings are exchanged for gold, cigarettes, grocery, electronics, and silver, but you can also bypass the law and exchange the winnings for money.

To get started, you need to buy some small steel balls with only a few hundred yen. You then pop them into the machine, where several will just fall all the way down. A few, though, will make their way into special holes that activate some sort of slot machine. You will then have lots of new balls to play with at the pachinko machine once this happens. Just like slots, pachinko is purely a game of chance.

Arcade Game

After WWII, Japan went through a phase of industrialization like most countries. It was then that arcades were born, and they have refused to die down even after wall the changes that have come through advanced internet access. They are everywhere, and most of the time, people here just refer to them as game centers.

You need coins to play at these popular entertainment centers. If you are out of change, a conveniently placed machine will allow you to exchange your notes, so you have no excuse but to play. The typical amount accepted at most machines is 100 Yen, but some, like crane games, allow you to start with as much as 500 Yen. Some games of skill do require more per game – around 400 Yen.

For crane games, typical prizes will include plushies, cushions, candy, kitchenware, and alarm clocks. The prizes are not so easy to win as the games are not rigged at all. There are also rhythm games, shooting games, and fighting games that you can participate in, and this part is what makes arcades as much fun as they are. They are deeply entrenched in the Japanese society because they are more about fun than winning and money.

Japanese Pop Culture

The Japanese pop culture is rapidly changing, and most times, the world is looking at the country to see what new thing they come up with. Itasha, an expressive way of drawing favorite characters from movies and series on cars, has caught on seriously. Food is another trend that will always attract a huge interest in the country, and now it’s vegetarian food that is arousing the interest of locals. Outside of gambling, there are several other trends keeping the youth’s attention.

A Rich Culture

In Japan, gaming takes center-stage when you think of entertainment ideas. There is always going to be gaming evident in anime as it is deeply ingrained in the culture. Apart from gambling, there are several other ways people in the country express their creativity and it is evident in the way they carry themselves. If you plan to visit Japan, you can count on finding an entertainment idea that will catch your attention ad make your stay memorable.