To gamble (ギャンブル, gyanburu) is being a part of a competition or lottery in which money or goods are wagered. A betting game. The system is designed to ensure that the operator always makes a profit, but it is highly addictive because it encourages people's gambling spirit, and a gambling addiction can lead to bankruptcy or even family breakdown. Therefore, all gambling is basically illegal in Japan, except for public sports and public lotteries, which are regulated by law.
For this reason, professional baseball players and sumo wrestlers who engage in "baseball gambling," in which high school baseball games are the object of betting, are severely punished.
However, there are many loopholes in Japan's prohibition of (private) gambling, such as the so-called "three parlor system" for pachinko/pachinko slot (which is not considered gambling by its very nature), which is tacitly approved. The market size of "de facto gambling," including pachinko and social game gacha, exceeds 23 trillion yen, and Japan is said to be the world's largest gambling nation.
