As investors place bets on Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's program for economic growth, the success of Japan's revival plans may rest, oddly enough, on casinos.

For more than a decade now, Las Vegas Sands chief Sheldon Adelson and his counterparts have salivated over bringing gambling tables to Asia's richest nation. Abe is nudging lawmakers to legalize casinos to help boost gross domestic product.

With analysts estimating Japan's gambling-resort market will be worth $40 billion a year by 2025, it seems like a safe bet.