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Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 24, 2003

Kansai casinos a dicey proposition

OSAKA -- It's way past dinner time in the back streets of Osaka's Shinsaibashi district. But one establishment advertising itself as an all-you-can-eat Italian restaurant is doing a booming business.
JAPAN
Jan 16, 2000

Viva Odaiba! Ishihara dreams of casinos in the bay

Cigarette smoke wafts out of noisy pachinko parlors, crowds armed with racing forms jostle one another on trains on horse racing days, and lines form in front of lottery ticket booths. You may or may not call it gambling, but playing to test your luck has grown into a huge industry in Japan.
Reader Mail
Nov 8, 2014

Japanese are big gamblers already

The Oct. 30 editorial "Take a balanced look at casinos" conflates two issues: introducing Western-style casinos and addressing the negative aspects of gambling.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 9, 2011

Disasters an opportunity for casino advocates

The March 11 disasters may achieve what Las Vegas magnate Sheldon Adelson has been trying to do for years: persuade the government to allow casinos.
SUMO / SUMO SCRIBBLINGS
Jun 19, 2010

Why can't sumo ever seem to get a break?

Sumo is once again under attack in the domestic media — this time on the back of twin allegations. First of all, there's the one involving seniors in the sport, known as oyakata, rubbing shoulders with the Japanese underworld and supplying choice tickets to their contacts at times. The other scandal...
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jun 15, 2010

Mah-jongg ancient, progressive

Few games may be as addictive as mah-jongg, whose players range from university students to salarymen and tend to go at it all night, often for money.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 27, 2010

Sumos and the yakuza

OSAKA — Perhaps no other sport is pursued as religiously as sumo wrestling. Before a match, referees — who double as Shinto priests — purify the seaweed, salt and sake. Wrestlers wash their faces, mouths and armpits before entering the dohyo (ring), on whose sacred sand neither shoes nor women...
EDITORIALS
Jul 7, 2010

Sumo punishment meted out

The Japan Sumo Association in an extraordinary executive meeting on Sunday decided to punish wrestlers and stablemasters involved in illegal gambling on professional baseball games. It fired the two central figures in the gambling scandal — ozeki Kotomituski and stablemaster Otake. Kotomituski will...
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Sep 25, 2007

Pachinko seeks to shed shady image as market shrinks

Filled with noise, bright lights and cigarette smoke, the attraction of the pachinko parlor is hard for many to fathom.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Apr 7, 2002

The trickle-down effect

It's late in Tokyo's Yurakucho district, and the pachinko parlors clustered here have shut off their garish neon signs. The consoles through which the game's trademark metal balls are sent cascading have gone quiet, and the hard-core players who hang on until closing time are scurrying out onto the pavement...
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Feb 21, 2020

Virus deals new blow to Cambodian city bound to China

An influx of Chinese that some Cambodians once resented for bringing noise, dust and chaos to the port of Sihanoukville is the cause of more pain now that it has gone into reverse.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 4, 2017

Task force looks into minimizing social cost of casinos

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe kicked off the inaugural meeting Tuesday of a government task force that will make recommendations on licensing and operating integrated resorts with casinos.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 2, 2014

Casino bill likely to pass Lower House: Abe aide

A Japanese lawmaker backing a bill to legalize casinos said he expects it to win Lower House approval this month and that the gambling resorts would be in major cities and charge local residents an entry fee.
JAPAN
Jun 8, 2013

Nippon Ishin bills seek casinos, dual-duty nod for Upper House ranks

Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Restoration Party) is planning two bills: one that would legalize casinos and one that would let local government heads concurrently serve in the Upper House.
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Apr 3, 2013

Local government attempts to make citizens rat on welfare recipients

Welfare recipients made to feel guilty for guilty pleasures.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 17, 2011

Sumo will change or die

"Please hit hard at the faceoff and then go with the flow.''
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 6, 2011

Penalties pay off for New Year's resolutions

MELBOURNE — Sometimes we know the best thing to do, but fail to do it. New Year's resolutions are often like that. We make resolutions because we know that it would be better for us to lose weight, or get fit, or spend more time with our children. The problem is that a resolution is generally easier...
EDITORIALS
Jun 30, 2010

Shadow over sumo world grows

The Japan Sumo Association has accepted recommendations made by a third-party special oversight panel investigating some JSA members' illegal gambling on professional baseball games. Acting on the recommendations, JSA is expected to expel ozeki Kotomitsuki and stablemaster Otake and to take strong disciplinary...
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 26, 2004

Flawed homeland security

LAS VEGAS -- The dispute between Washington and Tokyo over the fate of Army Sgt. Charles Jenkins, whom the United States accuses of defecting to North Korea some 40 years ago, is more than a case of American legalism vs. Japanese ad hoc policy and humanitarian instincts. The issue goes much deeper into...
BASEBALL / MLB
Feb 27, 2019

Opening Series players to wear MGM patches

When Major League Baseball holds its opening series in Japan next month, some of the players will have an unusual look as patches on their uniforms will promote MGM Resorts International.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 2, 2016

Lower House panel clears casino bill; opposition walks out in protest

The Lower House committee debating the casino legalization bill votes to send it to the Upper House as opposition lawmakers storm out in protest.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 10, 2014

Japan's massive pachinko industry bets on casinos amid popularity decline

"Welcome!" two young women in shorts and Hawaiian shirts chime over the clatter of pinballs and J-pop music at the Million pachinko parlor in the Tokyo residential area of Suginami.
Japan Times
JAPAN / KANSAI PERSPECTIVE
Jun 22, 2014

Osaka on leading edge of casino debate

If Osaka Gov. Ichiro Matsui, Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto and their Osaka Ishin no Kai (One Osaka) members play their cards right, their gamble on casino legalization could hit the jackpot.
Dodgers slugger Shohei Ohtani reacts after flying out in the seventh inning of the team's game against the Padres in Seoul on Thursday.
BASEBALL / MLB
Mar 22, 2024

Dodgers shield Shohei Ohtani from media after interpreter fired

Ohtani's attorneys accused Ippei Mizuhara of "massive theft" tied to illegal gambling.
A mural showing Dodgers player Shohei Ohtani is seen on the side of the Miyako Hotel in Little Tokyo, downtown Los Angeles, on Thursday. The mural is by artist Robert Vargas and is 46 meters tall.
BASEBALL / MLB
Apr 1, 2024

Ohtani’s arrival brings hope and nostalgia home to Little Tokyo

In Los Angeles, home to one of the nation’s oldest Japanese American enclaves, rooting for the Dodgers is a cherished tradition.
Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani needs to find a way to keep his eye on the ball as he plays his first 162-game season without his former interpreter Ippei Mizuhara.
BASEBALL / MLB
Apr 9, 2024

Can Shohei Ohtani achieve Michael Jordan-level mental resilience?

One expert says ensuring that he can pivot smoothly into a new support system is crucial for the player.
Tech entrepreneur, investor and philanthropist Masayoshi Son made his fortune by becoming a bridge between California's technology culture and Japan.
COMMENTARY
Oct 31, 2024

Masayoshi Son may be the oddest of the oddball billionaires

Masayoshi Son made his fortune by becoming a bridge between Californian tech culture and Japan.

Longform

A sinkhole in Yashio, which emerged in January, was triggered by a ruptured, aging sewer pipe. Authorities worry that similar sections of infrastructure across the country are also at risk of corrosion.
That sinking feeling: Japan’s aging sewers are an infrastructure time bomb