TOKYO, June 14, 2022—In January 2022, a group of some 30 top Japanese businesses, including a governmental bank, launched a lobby in hopes for legalizing sports betting of all conceivable professional athletic events, from basketball to baseball, by using digital monies such as NFT and sports tokens. What looks like a private-sector initiative came few years after the government of former prime minister Shinzo Abe’s failed attempt to open several government-sponsored casinos across Japan. (http://toshioaritake.com/2020/05/14/adelson-dumps-japan-casino-project-a-big-blow-to-japanese-prime-minister/)
Though claiming as autonomous and independent, the bureaucracy working with and on behalf of politicians seems to be imbedded in the group’s organization, led by the membership of the Development Bank of Japan, Inc., a former governmental bank which was privatized several years ago. The bank had been a virtual Ministry of Finance entity. The group’s members are made up of telecom, internet, and financial services including Boston Consulting Group, KDDI telecom, Mizuho Bank. Its composition is very diverse and suggests that without a powerful leadership entity, it could not have been assembled, the reason why the Prospect speculates strong government influence.
It’s named the Council of Sports Ecosystem Promotion. (https://www.c-sep.jp) Nishimura Asahi Law Office’s Hironori Itagaki serves as head of the organization, and Fleishman Hillard Japan, which worked for making Yuriko Koike as Tokyo governor, is named an active working member,
In 2020, former PM Abe was forced to give up opening state-sponsored casinos in Japan for a bout of bribery scandals sweeping his Liberal Democratic Party. The casino project had been incubated by the Ministry of Economy Trade and Industry, which is Abe’s pivotal administration base.
This time, sources said, METI once again arranged to legalize gambling in Japan as sports betting is estimated to generate $40-50 billion in tax revenue.
In early June, the trade minister, Hagiuda, categorically ruled out that legalizing sports betting will materialize but he did not deny that METI had drafted the scheme. Bureaucrats are concerned that as Japan’s economy contracts further, their jobs will diminish, so they feel the heat of creating new business.
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Insight Into the Future