Inside Asian Gaming

IAG JAPAN FEB 2021 80 JAPAN Shintaro Kamimura: We previously spoke about your role overseeing Japan’s Recovery Support Network, but you are also chairman of JSRG. Can you tell us about this organization? Dr Naoyuki Nishimura: JSRG is one of the platforms in the world that has created a framework for and theorized Responsible Gaming (RG) over the past 20 years. In the most recent years the focus has been on the overseas casino industry. When I thought about public gambling and pachinko in Japan, and especially online gambling, therewas nothing structured for it. So I decided to learn about it and create a support center to introduce to Japan, which led to the establishment of JSRG in 2019. SK: How well does the overseas concept of RG translate to Japan? NN: Japan has a unique set-up with pachinko and public gambling, so I believe that Japan also needs its own RG. I really don’t think it would go well to just bring the overseas methods over to Japan without any adaptations. SK: RG seems to be successful in Singapore and Macau. For example, the rate of addiction in Singapore in 2005 was 4.1%, dropping to 0.9% in 2017. In Macau, the rate of addiction was 4.4% in 2003, which dropped to below 2.5% from 2016 to 2019. NN: The reason they have been able to achieve those numbers and reduce prevalence rate among citizens is because they are using socialist management methods under the name of RG by not allowing public servants to gamble and charging residents an entrance fee (therefore restricting the entrance of local citizens to casinos). However, in Macau’s case, the addiction rate of customers from [the biggest customer bases of] Hong Kong and China are not all reflected in the statistics. 上村 慎太郎：前回は「RSN(リカバリーサポート・ネットワーク)」( パチンコ依存問題電話相談)について話していただきましたが、今 回はJSRGについて教えてください。 西村直之： 近年、海外のカジノ産業が中心になって、この20年間の 「RG(責任あるゲーミング)」のフレームを作り、理論化され、これ が世界の一つのプラットフォームになってきました。日本での公営 ギャンブルやパチンコ、特にここ最近注目しているオンラインギャン ブルなどへの対策を考えたとき、日本ではなかなかこういったもの を構造化しないので、それを学んで導入する窓口を日本に作りた いと思い、2019年にJSRGを創設しました。 上村：海外のRGは日本でも通用するのでしょうか？ 西村： 日本にはパチンコや公営ギャンブルがあり独特の様式があ るので、日本には日本のRGが必要だと思います。海外のものを日 Japan has a unique set-up with pachinko and public gambling, so I believe that Japan also needs its own RG. 日本にはパチンコや公営ギャンブルがあ り独特の様式があるので、日本には日本 のRGが必要だと思います。海外のものを 日本にそのまま入れても絶対にうまくいか ないと思います。