Japan and Pachinko go hand in hand. Pachinko is one of Japan's largerst industries and is not recognized as gambling.
Lawmakers now want to ease the fear that casino slot and table games will not lead to organized crime but rather fuel Japan's economy.
A group of lawmakers have introduced a bill that could give the go ahead for hotels, restaurants and shopping malls to place slot machines and card tables in these establishments. Main reason being is that Japan needs to make some money since their record earthquake in March.
Asian countries have seen the benefits of land based gambling and have raked in billions of dollars. Such countires as Cambodia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and South Korea, From Thailand to Indonesia, lawmakers are thinking about making the same type of move as Japan.
Japanese land based casinos could emerge as a 3.4 trillion yen ($44 billion) business. This is according to a 2009 study by Ryosaku Sawa of Osaka University of Commerce.
