Gambling
Japan's NPA targets offshore casino operators in 317-action sweep
The 25 September revision to Japan's addiction law pulls affiliate and referral sites into criminal exposure for the first time — offshore operators with Japanese-facing traffic now face simultaneous advertiser and operator liability.
2026-04-27 · 2 min
NPA enforcement statistics release targets Japanese-facing operators and foreign licensing jurisdictions
Japan's National Police Agency, in a statistical enforcement release published at npa.go.jp, reports 317 arrests or other enforcement actions against online casino participants under the Gambling Control Act 賭博罪 — the highest figure since the 2018 baseline year. The release coincides with the entry into force of the revised Basic Law on Measures Against Gambling Addiction on 25 September, which explicitly prohibits operating, promoting and intermediating online casino services aimed at Japanese users, regardless of where the operator is licensed.
The September revision closes a gap that affiliates and referral sites had occupied for years. Under the prior framework, 'reach sites' ranking or recommending offshore operators occupied a legal grey zone; the revision brings those intermediaries within the prohibition.
A senior police official said: 'We would like to make it known both in Japan and abroad that the operation of casino sites and advertisements will become illegal in Japan as a result of the enforcement of the revised law. We will persistently make repeated requests for removal.'
The NPA has directed formal requests to eight foreign licensing jurisdictions asking for removal of Japanese-facing operators from their licensed populations. The release does not specify whether these are mutual legal assistance requests under treaty, administrative cooperation channels or informal liaison communications, and the NPA has not disclosed whether any of the eight jurisdictions has responded or acknowledged receipt. That distinction is material for assessing enforceability: a treaty-based MLA request carries different obligations than an administrative letter.
Advertiser liability runs on a parallel track. The revised law extends the prohibition to social media posts, promotional videos and ranking sites, and the NPA release treats advertisers and operators as simultaneous enforcement targets.
The NPA estimates 3.37 million individuals in Japan have accessed online casino platforms, with over 70% placing actual wagers and annual betting volumes totalling approximately JPY 1.2 trillion roughly USD 7.5 billion. Those figures come from the NPA's own release and have not been independently verified.
For compliance and legal teams at offshore operators with Japanese-facing traffic, the immediate question is whether their licensing jurisdiction is among the eight named in the cooperation requests. The NPA release does not publish that list.
The cooperation requests do not settle civil liability, licensing revocation in the foreign jurisdiction or advertiser-side criminal exposure under Japanese law. The next NPA reporting cycle and any jurisdictional responses will be the procedural moments to watch; the appeal mechanism available to named operators under Japanese administrative procedure has not been addressed in the release.