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THE RISING JAPANESE GAMING INDUSTRY

COMPARES TO MACAU

AND SINGAPORE

PART ONE

Introduction

The gaming market around is expanding more rapidly than ever. There are several established and famous gambling facilities in Asia, such as Singapore and Macau. Other countries are now starting to legalize casino, hoping to bring in more profits. Meanwhile, online gaming options such as fantasy football are also becoming popular among millennial gamblers.

Japan has enacted statutes in July 2018 legalizing integrated resorts in Japan. Under this statute, gaming activities conducted by licensed casino business operators in the land-based form within IRs are now legalized in Japan (ICLG, 2019). The integrated resorts law allows up to three casino business licenses for the purpose of develop casino resorts in Japan (Japan Times, 2018). Furthermore, the Japanese government has made it its goal to achieve its target of 40 million oversea tourists by 2020, when the Tokyo Olympics will be held to stimulate economic growth. According to the statistics, the government’s goal of reaching 40 million overseas visitors in 2020 is in steady progress. 31.2 million people visited Japan in 2018, which was an 8.7% rise from 2017 and a new record figure recorded since 1964 (nippon.com, 2019).

In this paper, we will first compare the budding casino industries in japan with their counterparts in Singapore and Macau from various perspectives, such as political and government, economic environments, targeted clientele and potential growth. Then, we will examine the uniqueness of the Japanese casino market and study the reason behind the success of Macau and Singapore. Moreover, we will also analyze the comparative and competitive advantages of the Japanese market and find different ways to differentiate Japanese market from others to attract more future gamblers.

The world’s major gaming industry operators, such as MGM Resorts International, Wynn Resorts, Caesars Entertainment, and Galaxy Entertainment, have gathered professional teams to present their proposals for a casino license in Japan. Thus, this paper will also evaluate the advantage and disadvantage of these different major operators going into the Japanese market.

Purpose

As the third biggest economy in the world, Japan has huge growth potential for the gaming industry. The focus of this paper is to compare the Japanese gaming industry with Macau and Singapore and to address other factors that can help Japan find its unique way to be successful in future gaming industry development.

Justification

With the appearance of Japanese casinos in the gaming industry, other gaming properties, especially in Asia, are eager to learn more about Japan and how they can compete with the new Japanese market. Researches have been done on the general gaming industry and the history of it, but a few of the researches categorized Japan, Macau and Singapore as the examples of the Asian gaming industry and compared one another from the point of history, economy, politic and culture. This paper will focus more on these three markets and conclude the strengths and weaknesses of the rising Japanese industry.

Statement of Problem

After the enactment of a law in July 2018 legalizing casino gambling in Japan, many giant resort operators, such as Wynn Resorts Ltd. and MGM Resorts International, have started competing to bid to win the casino business license to enter the Japanese market and operate around mid- 2020s.

Although there is a high expectation for a significant economic boost, there are also a lot of people with legitimate concerns about gambling addiction and negative social impacts. When the government made the decision to approve IR statute and made casino legal in Japan, what is the true intention behind it? Was the decision made for political and personal preference or genuinely for the good of the country? Because this decision will have a significant impact on the Japanese economy, population, future growth, and political position. Therefore, the true intention to legalize IR and open casino need to be assessed to ensure the decision was indeed good for Japan’s long-term goal achievement.

Limitations

Legalizing gaming in Japan is still an ongoing process, many decision are still yet to be made regarding this topic. The result is unpredictable due to the nature of this topic.

Also, only Macau and Singapore are being compared to Japan for the gaming industry, it does not comprehensively represent the entire industry with other markets around the world.

Delimitations

This paper is mainly based on resources and researches written in English, eliminating many potential resources in Japanese and Chinese languages.

PART TWO

Literature Review

I. Definitions

According to the gambling commission official website (2019), gambling is defined as betting, gaming or participating in a lottery, which help distinguish between activities which need to be licensed and other activities which do not. Moreover, in Gambling Act 2005, different gambling activities were categorized into six sectors. The sectors include arcades (those for adults and those for families), betting (online, at an event or in a high street bookmakers), bingo (online or in a bingo hall), casino (online or in a casino), lotteries (online, raffles, tombolas, sweepstakes and etc) and the gaming machines (fruit machines, fixed odds betting terminals and etc) ”. (Gambling commission, 2019).

Specifically, the casino has been defined by the Merriam-webster dictionary (2019) as a building or room used for social amusements, specifically referring to one used for gambling). In academia, many scholars like Wu (2002) believe that translating casino as tourist casino is more appropriate because the structure of casino and entertainment facilities is included in the casino. According to Wu (2002), the casinos do not only have gambling machines and gambling activities, but also provide tourism activities, especially as the operating concept for today’s casino is not limited to only indoor locations.

Thus, the gambling industry has existed in Japan and many other countries that forbidden commercial casinos for many years. Even though the Japan government did not legalize the commercial casinos until 2018, some sectors like betting and lotteries are acknowledged in Japan, which will be also discussed latter in this chapter.

As the relationship between casinos and the gambling industry is clarified, this chapter will deepen the understanding of casinos in the following parts. Firstly, the paper will investigate and summarize the history of commercial casinos. Secondly, the paper will analyze the previous studies that have discussed and examined the advantages and disadvantages of the commercial casino industry. As the casino industry is a new item for Japan, the paper will then review Macao and Singapore’s casino industry and relevant history. Finally, with the prior knowledge, the last part of chapter two will zero on Japan by examining gaming industry and the legislative attempts to implement a lottery in Japan.

II. History of Casino Industry

According to the gambling official website (2019), the studies on the gambling history greatly overlaps the history of human being. The history of humanity is inextricably linked with the history of gambling. It seems that no matter how far back in time you go there are great amount of signs showing that “where groups of people gathered together gambling was sure to have been taking place.” Considering that the origin of humanity is still uncertain, the precise origin of gambling is thus unknown as well.

If changing the perspective from the time to the width, the answer will also be ambiguous. The reason is that gambling in some form or another has been seen in almost every society in history. From the Ancient Greeks and Romans to Asian China, the history is similarly filled with stories of entertainment based on games of chance. In China, the earliest evidence of gambling was found in the Chinese ‘Book of Songs’. The book makes reference to “the drawing of wood” which suggests that the tiles may have formed part of a lottery type game. Hence, researchers have evidence in the form of keno slips which were used in about 200bc as some sort of lottery to fund state works – possibly including construction of the Great Wall of China. (Gambling.net, 2019).

In spite of the separate evidences for gambling, the official gambling activities that nowadays symbolize a “casino” began during the Middle Ages in Italy (Clotfelter & Cook, 1989). This earliest game that still played in the casinos today is the two-player card game of Baccarat, a version of which was first mentioned as long ago as the 1400s when it migrated from Italy to France. Although casinos added many other games and gambling machines with its development, the game of Baccarat is still a feature of just about every casino due to its popularity with high rolling gamblers. (Gambling.net, 2019).

With the appearances of the famous games in casino, the earliest gambling houses which could reasonably be compared to casinos started to appear in the early 17th century in Italy. According to Bjorn (2014), this first known European gambling house, not called a casino although meeting the modern definition, was the “Ridotto”, established in Venice, Italy, in 1638 by the Great Council of Venice.

Though the casinos appeared in 17th centuries, the rapid spread of casinos was not in 17th century but in 19th century. While Casinos started to spring up all over continental Europe, in the US much more informal gambling houses were in vogue as prosperous farmers and traders used the steamboats up and down the Mississippi (which provided the venue for a lot of informal gambling stateside). In many western countries, early gambling establishments were known as saloons. According to Bjorn (2014), the reason is that only when in the saloon travelers could find people to talk to, drink with, and often gamble with. Regarding the convenience of the Mississippi in the historical background, it is thus comprehensible why casinos or saloons could develop so quickly in the United States.

Opposite to its great development, the commercial casinos were not legalized in many countries until the Americans legalized it in 1931. (Bjorn, 2014). The attitude of Americans has not always been positive towards the casinos. Dating back to when the very first European settlers arrived, the relationship with gambling was fine as the England can tolerate it at that time. Later in 1910, public pressure led to a nationwide prohibition on gambling, and proved difficulties to enforce, so gambling continued only in an only slightly discreet manner. The situation kept for twenty years until the Wall Street Crash and the Great Depression in the early 1930s. According to the gambling official website (gambling.net, 2019), the pressure led to gambling being legalized again, as for many this was the only prospect of alleviating the grinding poverty which they suffered through.

Despite that American’s legalization of commercial casinos, the casino industry is faced with many arguments. Many studies have been conducted regarding the advantages and disadvantages of commercial casinos. Based on the findings and suggestions in the literature, different governments have decided to legalize or ban the casino industry in their countries.

Therefore, in the next part, the paper will critically analyze the previous findings, and then provide supplementary information that focus on the casinos in Asian countries such as Singapore and China.

III. The Pros and Cons of Casino industries in the literature

In the literature, many researchers have conducted research on the influences of the gaming industry from different perspectives. In this part, the paper will present the previous studies and results that devote to answer the question whether it is beneficial to legalize the casino in a country. Toward the question, the researchers have found both positive and negative impacts, which lead to the division of the supporters and the opponents.

Thus, this part will analyze and synthesize the results of the previous research in terms of the positive impacts and the negative impacts. Although the research includes the impacts in many areas, this part of literature review will focus on the areas that most research studied in.

A. The Positive Side

1. Economics

Among the positive impacts, the great income and the related development brought by the casino industry is one of the most important reasons for the legalization of this controversial industry. Particularly, while tribal gaming is available in more areas, the corporate casino gaming has traditionally been perceived as a more appropriate tool for fostering general economic development through increased employment and tax revenue. (Garrett, 2004).

Aiming at examining the great influence believed by the government, in the literature, many studies have proved the significant impacts of the casino industry on the local economics, including Eadington (1999) and the Federal Reserve (2003). Among the great amount of studies, there are three perspectives for the researchers to investigate.

Firstly, some authors have studied the relationships among casinos, other gambling industries, and tax revenues. For example, Anderson (2005), Anders, Siegel, and Yacoub (1998) similarly found that the tax revenues showed a significant increase since the casinos became legal and settled in the area. Similarly, the papers of Elliott and Navin (2002), Fink and Rork (2003) and Kearney (2005) proved the strong correlation between the casino industry and local tax revenues. Moreover, according to Central Intelligence Agency (2008), casino industries generate millions of dollars for a country’s budget. For example, the gaming revenues reached a record high of US$10.33 billion in 2006, far exceeding the US$6.6 billion made on the Las Vegas strip.

Secondly, several researchers examined the degree to which casinos can influence the local job employment. For example, Lee & Kwon (1997) used the data from the Korean government and found that casinos have a higher propensity for generating income and employment han do sectors of the export industry, such as the passenger, car, TV, semiconductor, and textile and leather sectors.

Thirdly, there are some studies that superficially examine economic growth. One original peer-reviewed paper that does address the economic growth issue is Walker and Jackson (1998). Using a panel of quarterly data from 1991–1996, we found that casino gambling Granger-causes state per capita income. Another example is Arthur Anderson (1996), which is a consulting project for the American Gaming Association. This study describes the number of employees in the casino industry, average wages paid to employees, taxes paid to states, and so forth, but does not examine the economic growth effects of the industry. Other studies by the American Gaming Association provide similar descriptive analyses. Grinols’s (2004) analysis is detailed, but it provides no empirical evidence and has an arguably biased perspective on the economic effects of casinos.

2. Tourism

In addition to the economics, the tourism is also a field that is greatly influenced by the casino industry. (Lee, 1996). In the academia, researches have been done from the following two perspectives.

On one hand, the studies investigate the impact from the perspective of tourists. Firstly, they studied tourists who visit the destination only for the gaming industry. According to Eadington (1998), with the quantitative data and statistical analysis, it is identified that the form of legal gambling that is most associated with tourism is casino gaming. Other popular forms of gambling—such as lotteries, wagering on racing, charitable gambling, and non-casino located gaming devices—cater predominantly to local markets and therefore have little direct impact on tourism or tourism development. (Eadington, 1998). Secondly, they analyzed those who would visit the famous casino destinations only for touring instead of gambling. According to Eadington (1998), famous historic casino centers—such as Las Vegas, Monte Carlo, Sun City and Macao— have attracted visitors from neighboring or distant states or countries as their main source of business. Indeed, Las Vegas—which in 1997 attracted over 30 million visitors per year to its 105,000 hotel rooms and myriad casino and entertainment facilities—had become an ideal tourism destination resort, centered around casinos.

On the other hand, some research shows that tourism activity can stimulate investment or increase job opportunities but also give local sciences, environment or society different impacts because of the development and large amounts of tourists. For example, a comparative framework involving pre- and post-opening assessments is adopted to analyze the impact of the introduction of the Christchurch and Auckland casinos on tourism in New Zealand. (Pearce, 1999). In addition to analyzing the patterns of tourist demand consideration is also given to other ways in which the casinos impact on the country's tourist industry. These broader impacts include destination enhancement, promotion, competition and greater professionalism. The study concludes that the introduction of the casinos has contributed to the objective of promoting tourism but that these impacts, while beneficial, have been relatively modest and should not be overstated. (Pearce, 1999).

In short, as the casinos provides gambling and tourism activities, the possible influences should be considered.

B. Negative Impacts

1.Economics

Although many studies suggested the economic development and the increased income resulted from casinos, given the complexity of measuring the economic impacts of casinos, there is also a significant amount of research that suggests that casinos do not create the type of economic surplus that gaming companies propose. For example, Turner and IaIomiteanu (1999), reported that people spent less money at other entertainment venues because of the opening of some casinos. Some studies even find that there is no improvement or no impact on recreation options (Long, 1996).

In terms of the tax revenue, some scholars argue that the overall state revenues decrease when the gaming revenues increase. In their study regarding the correlation of gaming and recreational taxes, Siegel and Anderson (1999) found that a 10% increase in gambling tax revenue led to a 4% decline in tax revenue from other amusement and recreation sources. More specifically, the study of Popp and Stehwien (2002) found that the introduction of the first Indian casino decreased county tax revenue by 1%, while introduction of the second casino decreased county tax revenue by 6%. However, in these studies, there is no other consistent negative effect found on other types of tax revenues.

Moreover, the situation of the local business and other industries did not get much attention from the supporters of the casinos. Goodman (1994) suggest that the expansion of casinos will increase the cost of production for local industries and make them more vulnerable. Local enterprises struggle to compete and may be “cannibalized” or even driven out from the economy as the casinos provide the customers with 24-hour services. According to Benton (2015),local customers may also patronize the casino's facilities, which will decrease the amount that they spend on local businesses.

Concerning the cash flow, studies like Eadington (1995) have discussed the negative influence of casino industries as the “export” services. Even though casino gaming is referred as a kind of “trade”, the local population would get benefirs if casinos are unable to entice outside customers to visit the casino. In a way, casino gaming is a kind of export service industry. The more gamblers and tourists that come from outside the host community, the more gambling goods and services will be ‘‘exported’’, and the more likely local residents will benefit from the economic growth. Thus, the degree in which the local population will benefit depend solely on the actual number of gamblers and tourists that come from outside of the area. In this case, it will be questionable whether the casinos can always attract the same amount of visitors and then benefit the community and the government

Regarding the economic development, Grinols (2004: chap. 4) does offer a general discussion of economic development as it relates to job growth. From a critical perspective, he provides a detailed discussion of development as it relates to casino gambling. He argues that researchers who have written export multiplier or cost-benefit analyses of the casino industry often have been confused. Grinols’s critique is mostly on-target; he correctly argues that economic development occurs when welfare or utility increases. Development may or may not be associated with employment growth.

Therefore, it can be concluded what is necessary for economic development is that individuals are better off. (Grinols, 2004).

2.The Social Impact

While the economic impacts are quantifiable, tangible and measurable, social impacts—which tend to be negative—are qualitative, elusive, and very difficult to measure. Thus, one can often readily account for positive economic impacts within new casino industries, such as visitations, revenues, tax collections, jobs created, and new investments undertaken. However, it is very difficult, if not impossible, to come up with meaningful measures of the incidence of many social impacts attributable to an expanded presence of permitted gambling.

Due to the complexity of social variables, social issues are viewed as the most difficult subject for researchers to measure (Oh, 1999). Some of the most common social effects deal with crime, problem gambling, and the quality of life.

Firstly, regarding the quality of life, it is commonly believed that the addition of a casino may enhance the recreation, leisure, and entertainment options of the local region. (Benton, 2015). However, studies have found evidence that in cities with gaming facilities, residents felt a decrease in their sense of community as well as reduced overall quality of life. For example, the study of Long (1996) found that Colorado residents who lived in a city with casinos were less positive when asked whether the casino made their town a better place in which to live.

Hence, Janes and Collison (2004) evaluated the views of city leaders in Indian gaming communities over a five-year period. The study found that although entertainment choices such as hotels and restaurants were available, customers limited their participation to gaming activities instead of participating in other recreational activities. In support of these findings, Room, Turner and Iomiteanu (1999) found that customers spent less money on other entertainment options because of the opening of new casinos.

Secondly, in terms of the safety and crimes, casinos have long been assumed by the greater population to be connected with crime. particularly organized crime. The types of negative social impacts that have raised the greatest concerns have been linkages between casinos and casino-style gambling and organized crime; neighborhood crime and other crimes against property, such as burglaries, break-ins and embezzlements; and family-related crime and disruptions, such as child abuse, spousal abuse, suicides and divorce.

To test and verify the assumptions, many studies have analyzed the data of the frequency of crimes in the area before and after the open of casinos in an area. In the peer review of Benton (2015), Grinols and Mustard (2006) represents one of the most comprehensive studies done on the relationship between casinos and crime. The study analyzed the crime rate between two years prior to casino introduction and five years after the casino was built. These crime rates were then compared to communities without casinos. The study found that crime rates in communities without casinos were lower than communities with casinos. Additionally, the study found that casinos appear to increase crime at around four years after the introduction of the casino (Grinols & Mustard, 2006). Using the same methodology for towns in South Dakota, Long (1996) found similar results that crimes had increased with the development of casino operations.

Impacted by the crimes, there is also argument about whether casinos have negative effects on pathological gaming and the need for social assistance. Many opponents of casino gaming have pointed to the negative family issues that are caused by gambling. Long (1996) compared the social issues in gaming and nongaming communities, and found that there was an increase in child protection, marriage treatment, and other social programs in gaming centric regions. Based on Long’s study, Chhabra (2007) studied the perception of casino gaming in Iowa and found that residents perceived that there was an increase in bankruptcies, mental health issues, domestic violence, financial difficulties, and alcohol/drug abuse.

In conclusion, there are sufficient evidence provided by both the supporters and opponents of the casinos. With these results, the decision makers would also need some more information that is local and specialized for Japan. Thus, the following part will illustrate more analysis of the gaming industry in Japan and other typical Asian countries.

IV. Review Macao and Singapore’s casino industry and relevant history

1. Macau

Macau, also known as “Las Vegas of the East” is currently the largest gaming market in the world. In 2013 total gaming revenue in Macau was $45.1 billion, compared to Las Vegas Strip gaming revenue of $6.5 billion during that same year (Benton, 2015). Although casino gaming in Macau has been legal since 1850, it did not wait until the end of the gaming monopoly in 2002 that the gaming market started increasing at a historically high rate. Actually, in last thirteen years, gaming has expanded throughout the region and has become the mecca of casino gaming throughout the world. Macau is believed to be the oldest economy in the world that relies on legalized gambling. (Benton, 2015).

Macau was transferred to the People's Republic of China in 1999 and became a special administrative region of China. In 2002, the Chinese government decided to end the gambling monopoly “Sociedade de Turismo e Diversões de Macau” or STDM which was in place since 1962 (Chan, 2000). The government granted three concessions, which later became six, to the original concessionaire and a significant number of foreign enterprises. These included STDM, Wynn Resorts, Las Vegas Sands, Galaxy Entertainment Group, MGM, and Melco. As of 2015, there are eleven casinos that make up the Macau Peninsula and Cotai Strip. Over the course of the next three years, a number of new megaresorts are set to open on the Coati Strip, which will increase the number casinos in the region (Schaper, 2013).

2. Singapore

History of gambling in Singapore goes back to colonial times. In 1923 under the British government gambling was legalized, however it turned out to increase delinquency and gambling addictions among society, which lead to the turn back of legalization.

From February 14th 2006.Gambling in Singapore was legalized by Casino Control Act. In Singapore there are two casinos one in the southern part of the country in the mainland part while the other one on the island of Sentosa. Casinos are opened 24/7, the offer includes following games: roulette, blackjack, baccarat, Pai Gow, Fortune Wheel, Tai Sai, Ponton, Sic Bo and many more slot machines.

Regarding the regulation, Supervising Authority of casino is the Casino Regulatory Authority CRA) was established within the Ministry of Finance of Singapore. ("Casinos and Gambling in Singapore", 2019). This Office ensures proper casino functioning as well as the principles of fairness and prevention of social harms arising from gambling. One of the preventive measures is to exclude one from casino. In Singapore there are 3 types of exclusions: self exclusion at the player’s request,an exclusion at the request of the family, and exclusion by law. Minimal exclusion period lasts one year. To protect the youth from negative effects of gambling minimal age to enter casino in Singapore in 21. Tourists do not pay entrance fee but players from Singapore must pay a one-time fee of $100 or annual fee of $2000. ("Casinos and Gambling in Singapore", 2019).

V. Examine previous gaming industry and legislative attempts to legalize casinos in Japan

1. Gaming Industry in Japan

Before the legalization in Japan, there are several types of gambling game and machines allowed in Japan. Generally, the gambling industry in Japan can be categorized into the following three types: pachinko, lottery & toto and racing gambling.

a. pachinko

While not legally considered gambling, pachinko/pachislot (pachinko) type games are widely distributed games that serve a similar purpose in the Japanese marketplace. Pachinko is a type of mechanical game used as both a form of recreational arcade game and much more frequently as a gambling device. Japan spends $200 billion on pachinko, a vertical pinball game, every year. (Chan, 2018).

When there was a ban on most gambling, the industry employs more people than the top 10 car manufacturers and accounts for nearly half of the country's leisure activities. Although casinos have recently been legalized, it is claimed that the tax revenue estimates don't come close to pachinko. (Chan, 2018).

b. Lottery & Toto

The lottery was only reintroduced to the community during the year 1937 when the government urgently needed a source of funds for the war. Lottery is regulated by the Law of Tickets with Prizes and Toto is subject to the Law Concerning the Promotion of Sports Tickets. Each are overseen by separate organizations. Toto is a form of legalized wagering on soccer matches in Japan. It is done through a lottery system, which allows fans to pick the winners of matches in a given week. (Philander, et al, 2017).

c. Racing

According to Chan (2018), the horses racing and some auto races is the third most popular form of gambling after lottery and pachinko games.

2. Legislative attempts

1. Industry Supported Activity

The Recovery Support Network (RSN) offers a telephone helpline to support persons with pachinko or pachislot machine gambling issues and their concerned family/friends. (Philander, et al, 2017).

2. Japan government goals

a. Economic goals: grow the tourism market, particularly in terms of foreign visitor trips to Japan, spend per visitor, and total nights stayed. (Philander, et al, 2017).

b. Social goals: minimize social costs of gambling, in particular, impacts associated with addiction and/or crime. (Philander, et al, 2017).

VI Review the culture

Culture is a very strong concept that has different definitions. According to Hofstede, culture can be defined as the collective programming of the mind (Ozorio, Lam, & Fong, 2010). Cultural beliefs and values can be passed on directly through cultural group members or family members. Culture determines the way people make decisions, express their ideas and feelings, and their values. Therefore, culture determines the acceptance of gambling in a society as well as their involvement in it.

Japan has ingrained culture of gambling. Every morning women and men usually queue near train stations in Japan. According to a study conducted on gambling in Japan, more than 3.2 million Japanese are addicted to gambling (Takiguchi & Rosenthal, 2011). In every place in Japan from the biggest cities to the smallest towns’ one of the things that are common is gambling halls.

According to a study conducted in 2013 by the Ministry of Health in Japan, about 5 out of 100 people in Japan are suffering from gambling addiction (Wu & Chen, 2015). In 2013, it was estimated that the number of people addicted to gambling was about 5.36 million (Wu & Chen, 2015). The most common games played in the gambling halls in Japan is Pachinko (Komiya & Nakamura, 2019). Just like other types of gambling, this game has generated a lot of money for the country. According to Brooks, Ellis, and Lewis (2008), pachinko has about 17.1 million players that generate an annual income of about 2.87 trillion yen which is equivalent to $250 billion.

While Macau has been running the Casino industry for a very long time, Singapore and Japan have just started their casino operations recently. The most common games in Casinos in this country include poker and blackjack. Casinos in Singapore are an upcoming industry that was opened in 2010 and has been attracting very many people since then thereby earning a considerable amount in tourism revenues (Wu & Chen, 2015).

Even though Singapore is now considered a gambling destination, it is nothing compared to Macau. Macau is very far much ahead in this industry and can be placed in the same level as Las Vegas. Singapore places Casinos and gambling as part of IR (integrated resorts). This model has been studied by Japan that has recently enacted a law to legalize gambling.

In the Asian region, Macau is known as the pioneer of the gaming industry. Gaming was legalized in Macau in 1847. Macau has made Casinos to become entertainment facilities and has made casinos to become like resorts. According to a study conducted in 2006, Macau was the leading casino city followed by Las Vegas.

Social-cultural impact

Gambling has greatly affected the culture of the people living in these three countries. In the past, the people in the Asian region were considered as honest and hardworking people. Gambling has made them to develop criminal behavior which has led to an increase in criminal activities. Janes & Collison (2004) conducted a research in which they concluded that gambling does not cause criminal activities. Most studies have however confirmed that gambling is not only associated with increased criminal activities but also leads to drug abuse, criminal sexual behavior such as prostitution, divorce, domestic violence, and bankruptcy.

The Asian people are known for their strong family values. They are known as people that treasure their families and work hard to sustain them. In the recent past there has been an increase in issues regarding family problems and child neglect in these three countries. In 2005, emotional issues and family relationship issues were the most common issues that were dealt with by social workers in Macau (Wu & Chen, 2015). It is very much likely that these issues were caused by gaming since this plays a major psycho-social role in the families in Macau. Community leaders believe that there is a growing need for social service programs, marriage counseling, and child protection.

Cultural perception towards gambling

In Muslim groups, gambling is usually condemned, discouraged, and avoided. In some countries and regions, games are perceived to be childish and adults do not engage in them (Kim, Ahlgren, Byun, & Malek, 2016). Even so, gambling has a different perception in some cultures especially those that are in the Asian region. In Macau and Singapore gambling is regarded as a common lifestyle and therefore, people tend to engage in it. This is different in Japan where gambling has been legalized recently and therefore people have not yet embraced it as a common way of life.

Cultural differences in the way people perceive gambling have also caused issues in the way people seek treatment for gambling addiction. In these three countries, people with the gambling problem find it very hard to express their feelings and discuss the problem they have with other people. Counseling is usually their last resort. Counseling on gambling must be adjusted in a way that fits the Asian culture that is community and family-centered (Takiguchi & Rosenthal, 2011).

Culture in selection of games

Even though gambling and game selection is mainly based on attitude, cultural differences also play a huge role. According to Wang & Zabielskis (2010), Chinese prefer gams in which they play with people while Americans prefer games in which they play with machines. In Macau, games of strategy are more present as compared to games of chance. It is suggested that games of strategy are usually found in complex societies. The influence of culture in gambling is also evident in behavior and attitude. The influence of culture can also be evident in the way businesses are prearranged. Traditionally in Macau, VIP casino gambling system was due to the culture of personal relationships that was present. Cultural differences have also made it difficult for native people to work with non-native company managers especially in a case where they open their tribal gaming halls (Ozorio, Lam, & Fong, 2010).

According to Hofstede’s insights on cultural dimensions, one of the areas in which these three nations differ is in uncertainty avoidance. Japan is very high in uncertainty avoidance while Singapore and China are very low in uncertainty avoidance. Uncertainty avoidance is based on the way in which a country deals with some issues in the society since the future is unknown. With a low score in this dimension, Singapore and China adapt easily to things. This explains the reason why gambling was made legal in these two countries a long time ago.

Japan is regarded as one of the most uncertainty avoiding nations across the globe (Komiya & Nakamura, 2019). In Japan, social life is well explained and people the way in which they are required to behave. Avoidance uncertainty is the reason why it is very difficult to introduce change in Japan and certainly the reason why legalization of gambling took a long time.

Conclusion

Even though Macau, Singapore, and Japan are in the same region, they have different gambling behavior. The perception towards gambling and selection of games in the three countries is also different. Many people seem to be attracted to gambling sites and other spend all their money on gambling. One of the effects of gambling culture is an increase in tourism. Since gambling was legalized in these three countries, each country has experienced an increase in tourism as well as the amount collected in taxes.

References

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