＜prologue＞
I started a blog called “The Baby Boomer Generation’s Miscellaneous Blog”（Dankai-sedai no garakutatyou:団塊世代の我楽多（がらくた）帳） in July 2018, about a year before I fully retired. More than six years have passed since then, and the number of articles has increased considerably.
So, in order to make them accessible to people who don’t understand Japanese, I decided to translate my past articles into English and publish them.
It may sound a bit exaggerated, but I would like to make this my life’s work.
It should be noted that haiku and waka （Japanese short fixed form poems） are quite difficult to translate into English, so some parts are written in Japanese.
If you are interested in haiku or waka and would like to know more, please read introductory or specialized books on haiku or waka written in English.
I also write many articles about the Japanese language. I would be happy if these inspire more people to want to learn Japanese.
my blog’s URL:団塊世代の我楽多（がらくた）帳 | 団塊世代が雑学や面白い話を発信しています
my X’s URL:団塊世代の我楽多帳（@historia49）さん / X
<Added 3/22/2024> Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, was addicted to gambling!
On March 21 (March 22, Japan time), US media reported that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has begun an investigation into Ippei Mizuhara, the former interpreter for Dodgers player Shohei Ohtani.
While the IRS acknowledged that it was investigating Mizuhara and the illegal bookmakers, it said it could not disclose details.
The incident came to light when it was revealed that Mizuhara had a large debt to a bookmaker in California, which is illegal for gambling, and that he had transferred at least $4.5 million (about 680 million yen) from Ohtani’s account. The Dodgers fired him on the 21st.
Mizuhara Ippei apologized in front of the Dodgers’ manager and players on the first day of the major league opening game against the Padres in Korea, confessing, “It’s all my fault. I was addicted to gambling.”
There is a rakugo story called “Kouzu no Tomi” that is related to the “Tomikuji” lottery. The “Tomikuji” is something like the “origin of the lottery” held in the Edo period, and “Kouzu no Tomi” was held by Kouzu Shrine in Osaka with the permission of the temple and shrine magistrate as a kanjin (raising donations for the construction, repair, and reconstruction of shrines).
When reading historical novels, there are often scenes in which a “chugen” (a person who is a member of the clan) opens a gambling den in the secondary residence of a feudal lord during the Edo period.
Iwakura Tomomi (1825-1883), the only court noble to be selected as one of the “Ten Great Meiji Restoration Leaders,” also made money when he was a poor court noble at the end of the Edo period by opening a gambling den in his home and taking “temple money.”
Even in the Edo period, gambling and opening gambling establishments were taboo.
Currently, in Japan, “crimes related to gambling and lotteries” are stipulated in Articles 185 and 187 of the Penal Code.
Article 185: Anyone who gambles shall be punished with a fine of not more than 500,000 yen or a petty fine. However, this does not apply if the person only gambles on items used for momentary entertainment. (Habitual gambling and profiting from operating a gambling establishment, etc.)
Article 187: Anyone who sells lottery tickets shall be punished with imprisonment for not more than two years or a fine of not more than 1.5 million yen.
2. Anyone who acts as an intermediary in the sale of lottery tickets shall be punished with imprisonment for not more than one year or a fine of not more than 1 million yen.
3. In addition to the provisions of the preceding two paragraphs, anyone who gives or receives lottery tickets shall be punished with a fine of not more than 200,000 yen or a petty fine. (Lottery sales, etc.)
1. “Public gambling”
I have also written an article titled “Now that casinos have been legalized, isn’t it time to consider banning public gambling?” Please take a look.
Currently, “public gambling” includes horse racing, bicycle racing, boat racing, and auto racing.
These acts are clearly contrary to the purpose of the gambling crime, which is to protect the “customs of healthy economic life of the people,” but their illegality is prevented by the fact that they “make a financial contribution to the state and local public entities.”
The lottery should also be called a public lottery.
Pachinko can also be called a tacitly approved public gambling game, since it not only offers prizes but can also be converted into cash.
The Liberal Democratic Party’s Parliamentary League for the Promotion of the Amusement Industry (Liberal Democratic Party Pachinko League), which was launched in 2005, has now transitioned into the “Parliamentary League for the Promotion of Entertainment and Amusement Business Laws Appropriate for the Times” with the aim of realizing the “legislation of pachinko cash exchange,” but in essence it is the “Liberal Democratic Party’s supporter group for the pachinko industry.”
Incidentally, pachinko has been banned in South Korea since 2006. According to a former South Korean judge, “80% of criminals frequently visit pachinko parlors,” and this was the main reason for the ban.
There were also many incidents involving pachinko parlors. For example, customers who had lost a lot of money playing pachinko set fire to game arcades with gasoline or smashed the pachinko machines.
Before the ban, there were 15,000 pachinko parlors in South Korea, more than convenience stores, and they were open all night long. The market size was said to have reached 3.65 trillion yen.
2. “Gambling addiction”
“Gambling addiction” is “a state in which daily or social life is disrupted by addiction to gambling (public gambling, pachinko, slots, etc.).”
This disrupts the lives of the individual and their family, and causes serious social problems such as multiple debts, poverty, abuse, suicide, and crime.
3. Lifting the ban on casinos in integrated resorts
There are plans to allow casinos in integrated resorts in Osaka, but it is expected that the chances of gambling addiction will increase to the same extent as public gambling, or even more than in the case of public gambling.
It is also expected that organized crime will become involved, so security measures will be essential.
However, since there will always be a certain number of people who like gambling, there are some who believe that if public gambling were to disappear, illegal gambling would increase, which would be a problem.
In 2010, a cross-party group of Diet members, excluding the Social Democratic Party and the Communist Party, called the International Tourism Industry Promotion Diet Members’ League (Casino Diet Members’ League), was formed. Its purpose is to “promote the tourism industry by legalizing casinos and to legalize the cash exchange of pachinko winnings,” but it is essentially a “casino and pachinko support group.”
<Added 1/8/2020>
On December 25, 2019, Akimoto Tsukasa (LDP), a member of the Casino Diet League, was arrested on suspicion of bribery. On January 6, 2020, Shimoji Mikio (Japan Innovation Party) admitted to receiving 1 million yen in cash from an advisor to the Chinese company “500.com.” As “500.com” has confessed to distributing around 1 million yen in cash to four other Diet members in addition to Shimoji, the investigation may extend to other Diet members belonging to the Casino Diet League in the future.
The low maximum interest rates for “salaryman loans” have led to financial difficulties, and some companies have gone bankrupt due to the additional burden of claims for overpayment.I have heard that as a result, the number of legitimate financial institutions has decreased and “illegal loans” have actually increased.
New types of financial services, such as bilateral factoring, have also emerged that slip through the legal net.
The Basic Act on Countermeasures against Gambling and Other Addiction was enacted in 2018, so I hope that effective measures will be implemented. I have doubts that the LDP Pachinko and Casino Diet Members are in collusion with the pachinko and casino industries, and I wonder what they think about “countermeasures against gambling and other addictions.”
As an aside, I would also like the government to get a good grasp of the actual situation regarding illegal lending and to strengthen crackdowns.
