Japanese public still opposes IR development

Monday 7th of August 2017

While the national authorities and local governments are preparing for the advent of IRs sometime in the mid-2020s, a new poll from Jiji Press underlines once again that very little has been done to convince the general public to accept casino gambling.

Asking whether or not they would welcome the establishment of an IR in their own region, the national poll found 66.8 percent opposing the idea and only 22.8 percent in favor. If anything, the Japanese public has become less accepting since the passage of the enabling legislation last December.

Polls conducted last month in Yokohama found a similar 3-to-1 margin of opponents over advocates.

There is a significant gender gap, with Japanese women, in particular, proving to be more hostile to casinos. In the case of female respondents, the results were 14.3 percent in favor and 74.7 percent opposed to the establishment of IRs.

The top reasons cited for why they opposed casinos were, in order, concern about a deterioration in public security, a negative influence on young people, and an increase in the number of gambling addicts.

Proponents of IRs mainly cited possible positive effects for the local economy, tax revenues, and employment.

When asked if they would personally visit a casino if one were in fact established in their local region, only 19.6 percent responded that they would go and see it, while 76.6 percent claimed to have no interest in visiting an IR.

IR Poll Public