Official texts, dated
Online casinos and Japanese law in the official texts, checked in 2026
This page sets out what Japan's official sources say, in their own terms and with the date they were opened: the gambling articles of the Penal Code, the 2025 amendment to the gambling addiction act, and the National Police Agency's page.
The subject of online casinos and Japanese law is best approached through the texts themselves rather than through summaries. Three official sources carry the relevant wording: the Penal Code, the Basic Act on Measures against Gambling Addiction as amended in 2025, and a page published by the National Police Agency. Each was opened on the day this page was written, and every statement below is dated to that check.
What follows reports what those sources say. It does not assess any reader's situation, and it is no substitute for advice from a qualified professional.
- Curaçaothe Curaçao Gaming Authority issues OGL certificates
- Anjouanthe register lists ALSI numbers and domains
- JapanPenal Code, Articles 185 and 186 (e-Gov law search)
Online casinos and Japanese law: Penal Code articles 185 to 187
The Penal Code (Act No. 45 of 1907) was checked 16 September 2026 in the e-Gov law database, in the version in force from 21 May 2026. Its Chapter 23 covers crimes relating to gambling and lotteries and contains three articles.
- Article 185 addresses a person who gambles. The penalty it sets is a fine of up to ¥500,000 or a petty fine. The same article adds an exception: it does not apply when what was wagered was only something offered for momentary entertainment.
- Article 186 has two paragraphs. The first addresses habitual gambling, with imprisonment of up to three years. The second addresses a person who opens a gambling place, or gathers gamblers together, for profit, with imprisonment from three months to five years.
- Article 187 concerns lotteries: selling them, acting as an intermediary in their sale, and giving or receiving lottery tickets, each with its own penalty.
The articles do not mention the internet, cryptocurrency or any particular country. They define the acts in general terms.
The 2025 amendment on online gambling
The Basic Act on Measures against Gambling Addiction (Act No. 74 of 2018) was also checked 16 September 2026 on e-Gov. The version shown there reflects an amending act, Act No. 76 of 2025, promulgated on 25 June 2025 and in force from 25 September 2025.
Article 9-2
The amendment added Article 9-2. It applies to anyone who sends information over the internet to unspecified persons, with an exclusion for those who merely provide the opportunity for such information to be displayed. Two acts are prohibited:
- presenting, to unspecified persons in Japan, a website or program that offers a place for illegal online gambling;
- sending, over the internet to unspecified persons in Japan, information that steers people toward illegal online gambling.
The same article defines its terms. Illegal online gambling means gambling carried out illegally within Japan using the internet. An illegal online gambling website is one that provides a place to do it, and the program definition follows the same pattern.
Other provisions touched by the amendment
- Article 2 defines «gambling etc.» for the purposes of the Act as public races run under statute, pachinko parlours and other speculative activities.
- Article 14 now includes, among education and publicity measures by national and local government, steps to make widely known that illegal online gambling is prohibited.
The Act is framed around addiction measures. Most of its articles concern national and local responsibilities, counselling support, research and a headquarters within the Cabinet.
The National Police Agency page
The National Police Agency's page on online casinos was checked 16 September 2026. Its heading states that gambling using online casinos is a crime. The page then makes several points in its own words:
- It addresses the belief that using an online casino run lawfully by an overseas company is not a crime, and states that connecting from within Japan to gamble is a crime even where the casino operates lawfully abroad.
- It says this applies regardless of the game's name or content, giving baccarat, slots and sports betting as examples, and asks readers to stop using online casinos, including «free» versions and «free bonus» points.
- It lists enforcement examples: a person who gambled at home on a computer against the dealer of an overseas-run site; a person who ran a gambling site on overseas servers; a person who took wagers into a bank account while posing as a payment agent; and a person under contract with an overseas operator who urged viewers on video streaming sites to use it.
- In a section on the 2025 amendment, it gives examples of prohibited acts: opening or running an online casino site, listing an online casino app in an app store, posting links to such sites or promoting them on social media, and building roundup sites that introduce online casinos with links.
The page also refers to a research report on online casino use commissioned by the agency and to publicity material. Those documents are separate from the points above.
Foreign licences and online casinos and Japanese law
Many crypto casinos hold certificates from the Curaçao Gaming Authority or from the authority in Anjouan. Such a certificate is a permission issued within that authority's own system, to a named company, for listed domains. Our page on reading a licence number covers what those records show, and who runs a casino explains how holders and brands relate.
A foreign certificate and the Japanese texts are different things issued by different bodies. The police agency page speaks to this directly: its view, quoted above, is that lawful operation abroad does not change its position on connecting from within Japan. The certificate records themselves say nothing about Japan. For how a certificate's status can change, see revoked licences.
Public races and lotteries
Japan also has forms of betting that run under their own statutes. The addiction act's Article 2, quoted above, names public races conducted under statute. The Lottery Tickets Act (Act No. 144 of 1948), checked 16 September 2026 on e-Gov, lets prefectures and certain designated cities sell lottery tickets to fund public works and other projects, within amounts approved by their assemblies. These systems have their own organizers, rules and oversight, distinct from the articles in Chapter 23 of the Penal Code.
Reading these sources yourself
The texts change. The Penal Code shown on 16 September 2026 was a version in force from 21 May 2026, and the addiction act had been amended less than a year before. A few habits help:
- Open e-Gov directly and note the version date shown with each law.
- Read the article, not a summary. Definitions sit inside the same article more often than people expect, as in Article 9-2.
- Date what you read. Record the day, as this page does.
- Ask a qualified professional about any question that concerns your own circumstances.
How operators are compared, and which sources count as evidence, is set out in the methodology.
Frequently asked questions
- Where can I read the Penal Code articles on gambling?
- The e-Gov law database publishes the full text of the Penal Code, Act No. 45 of 1907. Articles 185, 186 and 187 sit in Chapter 23, which covers gambling and lotteries. When checked on 16 September 2026, e-Gov showed the version in force from 21 May 2026. Note the version date whenever you read it, since statutes are amended over time.
- What did the 2025 amendment change for online gambling sites?
- Act No. 76 of 2025, in force from 25 September 2025, added Article 9-2 to the Basic Act on Measures against Gambling Addiction. It prohibits presenting illegal online gambling websites or programs to unspecified persons in Japan and sending information that steers them toward such gambling. Article 14 now also covers publicizing that illegal online gambling is prohibited. Checked on e-Gov, 16 September 2026.
- Does a Curaçao or Anjouan licence count under Japanese rules?
- A certificate from those authorities is a permission within their own systems for a named company and listed domains. The National Police Agency page, checked 16 September 2026, states that connecting from within Japan to gamble is a crime even when the online casino operates lawfully abroad. For personal questions, consult a qualified professional rather than relying on a summary.