Gambling Traffic in Japan: A New Frontier in a Highly Regulated Market

Japan is moving from pachinko halls and niche betting products towards full-scale integrated resorts, with the first legal land-based casino resort in Osaka scheduled to open around 2030. At the same time, the country has introduced some of the strictest rules in Asia against illegal online casinos and their advertising.

For affiliates and media buyers, this creates a paradox: Japan looks like an exciting new frontier, but it is also a jurisdiction where compliance mistakes can be extremely costly. As noted in The untapped potential of Asian countries in iGaming, Japan is one of the key Asian markets with strong digital spend and a growing appetite for gaming and sports content, yet it remains tightly regulated.

This overview explains what “online casino Japan legalised casino 2025” actually means in practice, how sports betting Japan regulation is evolving, how Japanese audience gambling behaviour shapes demand, and where TrafficStars can realistically fit into a compliant strategy.

From IR Law to MGM Osaka: where casino legalisation stands

Japan’s modern casino framework is based on the Integrated Resort (IR) legislation adopted in 2018, which allows a small number of large-scale resorts that combine hotels, convention centres and a land-based casino.

Key points for “online casino Japan legalised casino 2026”:

• The IR law covers land-based casinos only, inside designated integrated resorts. Online casinos are explicitly excluded and remain illegal.
• Osaka has broken ground on MGM Osaka, a JPY 1.27 trillion project on Yumeshima Island, with opening planned for autumn 2030.
• The central government is preparing a second round of bids, with the possibility of additional IRs in locations such as Tokyo or Hokkaido in the late 2020s.

So in 2025, “legalised casino” in Japan means:

• A future network of strictly regulated land-based resorts, starting with MGM Osaka.
• A focus on casino tourism Japan Osaka Tokyo 2025 and beyond, aimed particularly at inbound visitors and high-value business travellers.

It does not mean legalisation of online casinos for residents. Operating an online casino in Japan, or accessing overseas online casinos from Japan, is treated as illegal gambling under the Penal Code.

Online casinos and the 2026 advertising ban

Despite prohibition, a large grey market has developed around offshore sites that accept Japanese players, with estimates of more than three million people having used real-money online casinos and around JPY 1.2 trillion (about USD 8 billion) spent annually.

In response, Japan has tightened its rules in 2025:

• Amendments to the Basic Law on Gambling Addiction Countermeasures explicitly ban online casinos and prohibit advertising or promoting them, including via social media and affiliate sites.
• The new law criminalises “presenting websites and apps that provide illegal online gambling” and “disseminating information that leads users to such services”, even when the casino is legally licensed overseas.
• Authorities have also started to ask foreign regulators to help block access for Japanese citizens to offshore casinos licensed in their jurisdictions.

For affiliate marketing Japan gambling offers, this has clear consequences:

• Promoting offshore online casinos to Japanese residents is now explicitly treated as unlawful.
• Running online ads that target users in Japan and direct them to such casinos is prohibited, regardless of where the campaign is served from.

Any strategy that involves Japanese traffic must start from this reality.

Sports betting Japan regulation: limited but evolving

Sports betting Japan regulation is slightly more permissive, but still tightly controlled:

1. Betting is legally permitted on so-called “public sports”: horse racing, cycle racing (keirin), powerboat racing and motorcycle racing, as well as on government-run lotteries and football pools (toto).
2. Commercial online sportsbooks targeting Japanese residents fall outside this framework and are considered illegal, even when the company is licensed abroad.
3. Policymakers have discussed the possibility of liberalising sports betting in a controlled way, but no broad legalisation of online sports betting has been adopted so far.

This means that campaigns built around sports betting Japan regulation must be informational (for example, explaining which betting products are legal and what the new IRs will offer to visitors), rather than promotional funnels to offshore books.

Japanese audience gambling behaviour

Even under strict rules, demand for gambling and gaming is strong. Japanese audience gambling behaviour shows some consistent features:

• A large share of the adult population has experience with regulated gambling products such as pachinko, lotteries and public sports betting.
• Surveys cited by regulators indicate that millions of individuals have tried offshore online casinos, and roughly two million remain active users, despite the legal risks.
• Gaming culture is deeply embedded, from console gaming and mobile games to e-sports, and digital spending on entertainment is high.

In practice, this translates into:

• Strong curiosity about “best casino apps Japan foreigners friendly” and live casino Japan English Japanese interface, especially among users who travel abroad and want familiar language options when they play in other jurisdictions.
• A preference for sleek, mobile-first experiences that resemble top Japanese apps in design quality and usability.

Any legal product aimed at Japanese speakers, whether at visitors inside Japan or at Japanese residents abroad, must respect these expectations for polish and clarity.

Casino traffic sources Japan native ads and the new rules

In many countries, casino traffic sources Japan native ads, programmatic placements and social media are the default way to reach users. In Japan, this channel is now heavily restricted:

• The revised addiction countermeasures law explicitly bans online casino advertising, including on social networks, affiliate sites and native ad placements that promote illegal offshore operators.
• Regulators have signalled that enforcement will increasingly focus on marketing funnels rather than just on the offshore platforms themselves.

For traffic buyers, the safest interpretation is clear:

• Do not use native ads, push, pop or any other digital format to drive Japanese residents to unlicensed online casinos or sportsbooks.
• Avoid “workarounds” such as pretending to promote generic content that in reality pushes users straight to illegal operators.

Grey markets are becoming riskier globally, not less, and Japan is at the strict end of this spectrum.

Where TrafficStars fits into a compliant Japan strategy

TrafficStars is a multi-format ad network with global reach, strong experience in iGaming, and high-quality formats such as Popunder, Native, Banner, Push, In-page Push, Video pre-roll and Full-page Interstitial.

However, under current Japanese law, you should not use any network, including TrafficStars, to serve campaigns that:

• Target users in Japan and promote illegal online casinos or unlicensed sports betting.
• Circumvent the advertising ban by funnelling traffic from “neutral” content directly to offshore operators.

There are still lawful ways in which affiliates connected to Japan can work with TrafficStars, provided they configure campaigns carefully and take legal advice. For example:

• Japanese affiliates who operate multilingual sites can use TrafficStars to monetise traffic from countries where online gambling and its advertising are legal, by geo-targeting only those jurisdictions.
• International casino brands that plan to welcome visitors at MGM Osaka or other future IRs can use TrafficStars to promote legal tourism offers and brand content in markets where such advertising is permitted.
• Content about responsible gambling, general gaming news or legal betting products in other jurisdictions can also be promoted, as long as campaigns respect each country’s advertising rules.

It is important to understand that Japan in 2025 will not allow the same kind of direct response funnels to online casinos. Any use of TrafficStars with Japanese-speaking audiences must be designed around compliance first.

High-level content and affiliate ideas that are more future-proof

Instead of chasing short-lived grey traffic, affiliates who care about the Japanese market can focus on content that will remain useful as regulation evolves:

• Educational hubs on gambling law and consumer protection in Japan, explaining which products are legal and how the new IRs will operate.
• Travel and lifestyle features about casino tourism Japan Osaka Tokyo 2025 and the longer-term IR roadmap, including convention business, shows and non-gaming attractions.
• Guides in Japanese and English on how to gamble responsibly when travelling abroad, with clear warnings about the illegality of accessing online casinos from Japan.

Such content can later be monetised via legal partnerships when more regulated opportunities emerge, and can already be used to drive traffic to compliant offers in other jurisdictions through networks like TrafficStars.

Conclusion: Japan as a cautious but important frontier

Japan is undoubtedly a “new frontier” for the global casino industry: MGM Osaka is under construction, further IRs may follow, and Japanese consumers have strong purchasing power and a deep gaming culture.

At the same time, 2026 has brought one of the world’s clearest legal messages against illegal online casinos and their promotion. The current framework leaves no room for traditional online-casino affiliate funnels aimed at residents.

Affiliates and media buyers who respect these boundaries, build Japanese-language content around lawful themes, and use networks such as TrafficStars only for campaigns that comply with each country’s rules will be best positioned to benefit when regulated online opportunities eventually appear.