Inside Asian Gaming

IAG JAPAN FEB 2021 82 JAPAN SK: Can entrance fees control addiction? NN: Entrance fees havenot had that effect inSingapore. That’s why they’re talking about increasing the fee. Actually, globally most researchers do not support the effects of entrance fees and there are many who consider entrance fees to be a higher risk. The idea is that the gambler may feel like they need to make back the entrance fee. Those researchers believe that this distorts their sense of reality. While entrance fees can serve as a partial control method, there isn’t a lot of discussion about how they increase the risk of people who [pay the entrance fee] and go into the casino. Japan isn’t very logically or scientifically advanced on that topic yet. I think Japan needs structured initiatives. SK: Japan is planning on charging local citizens entrance fees. NN: Yes, in Japan as well the government is saying they will [impose entrance fees], but they also need to consider how to redistribute entrance fees in order to enhance the city and to sectors that won’t create problems, such as welfare. The candidate local governments are being questioned about how they will use their portion of the entrance fees, which would be a JPY3,000 to JPY6,000 fee. SK: Are self-bans effective? NN: Self-ban programs do have certain effects, but in the end they rely on self-application. In other words, it is voluntary, not forced. Furthermore, I believe the effects of self-ban programs in Asia are unique to the rest of the world. Japan is planning to follow the Singapore model of charging its local citizens an entry fee. 日本はシンガポールと同じく日本住民に入場料制限を加える予定