Japanese Police Find 3,000+ Gambling-Related Web Pages, but Struggle to Remove Them

A Japanese police gambling investigation has unearthed over 3,000 illegal betting-related web pages targeted at residents of Japan, including web pages and social media posts.

However, the process of removing betting resources from the web is proving “slow,” officers admitted, according to the Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun.

The campaign to rid the web of illegal Japanese-language gambling-related content is the brainchild of the Internet Hotline Center (IHC).

The center, which answers to the National Police Agency, says all of the web resources were identified between September and December of last year.

Police said that once the IHC determines a web page or post has contravened the law, they order the poster or website operator to remove it.

But the process is far from straightforward. Police say that dealing with sites and influencers who use affiliate links to earn money from online casino advertisers “has become a challenge.”

Japanese Police: Gambling Crackdown Challenges

Only around 300 of the websites and social media posts involved firms or individuals located in Japan, the center said.

All of these firms or individuals posted casino advertisements. But while the center sent the parties hundreds of takedown requests, less than 40% of the providers have complied with the IHC.

The center identified over 2,970 cases originating from abroad, with 464 websites and 2,507 web pages and social media posts flagged for removal.

The IHC has asked over 2,700 operators to remove the pages and posts in question. But fewer than 500, or just under 20%, have complied.

The National Police Agency says removal efforts are hampered by the fact that many overseas locations do not police the online casino industry.

Casinos, both land-based and online, remain illegal in Japan. Both advertising and accessing overseas online casinos from Japanese territory are criminal offences.

However, the government is preparing to carve out exceptions in the form of integrated casino resorts, also known as IRs.

Thus far, the only IR project to gain approval is the tentatively named MGM Osaka, currently being built in the Osaka Bay area.

Is Osaka Facing an IR Setback?

The casino, the brainchild of the US-based casino operator MGM and Japan’s Orix, will open in 2030.

Developers expect 20 million people to visit the new IR each year.

However, Asahi Shimbun reported in a separate article that analysts say the economic impact of the MGM Osaka opening “may not be as substantial as expected.”

They said labor shortages in the tourism industry could delay the project. The critics also pointed to worsening relations between Japan and China.

The Chinese government has recently banned group tours to Japan following Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s comments about Taiwan.

Takaichi said in November last year that a Chinese blockade or attack on Taiwan would constitute an “existential threat” for Japan.

Officials in Promotion Drive

Osaka authorities are putting on a brave face.

“We hope that [the IR and the surrounding area] will become a new catalyst for the Osaka-Kansai economic zone,” Osaka Mayor Hideyuki Yokoyama told reporters earlier this month.

Osaka Prefecture and Osaka city authorities have allocated 124.52 million yen (about $781,000) in their initial budget proposal for fiscal year 2026 to promote the development of the IR.

Officials said they were preparing to advertise the IR at train stations throughout the prefecture in the year ahead.

They are also preparing online advertisements. Officials will also work on promotional videos to air on taxi screens throughout Osaka.