rding to a government-commissioned report, around 3.2 million Japanese people have suffered from some form of gambling addiction at some point in their life.

The findings, which were published last Friday amid renewed concern about pathological gambling in the country since a law to legalise casinos took effect last year, showed that over of 3.6% of all interviewed people have responded that they have felt addicted to gambling at some point in their life. This figure, applied to Japan’s total population, suggests that 3.2 million people have experienced problem betting.

Additionally, the same study has found that 0.8% of Japan’s total population have been affected by problem gambling only in the last year.

The survey of 10,000 adults which received 4,685 valid responses has confirmed that Pachinko remains the most popular game, accounting for the most money spent on gambling. On average, players have been found to spent JPY58,000 ($515) per month.

Susumu Higuchi, Director of the National Hospital Organisation Kurihama Medical and Addiction Centeer- body that oversaw the survey- urged for aid “not only the government but medical practitioners need to work toward better treatment”.

He added that data for Japan could not be strictly compared with those from other countries due to differences in methodology; however, the report noted that the figures for suspected gambling addicts in 11 other countries and regions — including the United States, South Korea and Hong Kong — were lower, in the range of 0.2% to 2.4%.

Currently, gambling is legally restricted to pachinko and race betting (horse, powerboat, bicycle and motorcycle). Although last year the country passed a bill for the legalisation of integrated casinos resorts in the hope of boosting tourism and the local economy, however, there is still a long road ahead before the specifics of Japan’s casino regime are set in stone.