Gambling Games banned at Japanese Care Centers

Many daycare centers in Japan are offering casino-style games for the elderly because they enjoy playing them. However, the city of Kobe is now banning games like slots, mahjong and poker because they fear that the elderly will develop gambling addictions.

City officials in Kobe (pop. 1.544m) are also concerned that allowing gambling-style games could cause the elderly to become less self-reliant. So the Kobe Municipal Assembly voted unanimously to become the first Japanese city to ban gambling games from their daycare centers.

The games offered at care centers only allow the seniors to bet “pseudo currency” instead of real money. However, Kobe government officials are still concerned that mahjong, slots and card games could “stir up a ion for gambling” and cause the seniors to heavily gamble.

As The Telegraph reports, gambling games present a conflict with the government’s public nursing-care insurance system, which s care centers.

As a whole, Japan has always taken a traditional approach to gaming. The only widespread form of legal gaming in the country is Pachinko, a hybrid pinball/slots game that’s found in thousands of parlors throughout the country. However, this is one of the few developed countries in the world that maintains a ban on casinos.

There’s been a big push in recent years to lift this casino ban and allow giant resorts into the country like Las Vegas Sands and MGM. But so far, this push has failed and the government recently delayed voting on casinos. Giant casino corporations want the activity legalized as soon as possible so that they can properly set up before the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. But with yet another delay, it’s looking less and less likely that this will happen and casinos will cash in on the Olympics.

Going back to the original point, the decision not to allow gambling games inside of Kobe daycare centers falls in line with Japan’s traditionalist view of gaming. And it wouldn’t be a surprise if other cities start following Kobe’s lead in the near future. But then again, perhaps the seniors who enjoy mahjong, slots and card games will voice their complaints if such issues arise in other Japanese cities.