Illegal Online Gambling Continues to Rock Professional Baseball in Japan
Posted on: June 20, 2025, 12:05h.
Last updated on: June 19, 2025, 11:14h.
- Illegal online gambling continues to cause controversy within pro baseball in Japan
- Online gambling is illegal in Japan
- Japanese people bet an estimated $45 billion online last year
Illegal online gambling continues to present problems for professional baseball in Japan, the country’s most popular and beloved sport.
The scandal has rocked Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB), the highest level of pro ball in the Land of the Rising Sun. In February, 14 NPB players admitted to playing online casino games despite knowing that the internet platforms are illegal and operate without regulation from foreign, offshore countries.
This week, four players with the Saitama Seibu Lions, a team in the Pacific League of the NPB, were charged with illegal online gambling. The players named were Tonosaki Shuta, Tsuge Sena, Kodama Ryosuke, and Hasegawa Shinya.
Saitama Prefectural Police launched a probe into the four players’ off-field behavior after the team tipped off the law enforcement agency. Along with the four players, a team staffer was found to have made illegal online bets.
In a statement, the Saitama Seibu Lions said the five online gambling violators have expressed “deep regret” for their actions and have agreed to pay a penalty imposed by the club. There was no evidence that the handful placed bets on sports or threatened the integrity of the NPB.
The Lions are among the NPB’s most successful franchises, with 13 Japan Series titles. Pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka is the most notable Lion alum who went on to enjoy a successful career in Major League Baseball.
Japan Ball
Japan’s professional baseball industry continues to combat incidences of players violating gambling laws. And the Japanese population’s affection for gambling doesn’t end when marquee players and their associates head to the big leagues stateside.
No account has garnered more publicity than the multimillion-dollar sports betting scandal of Ippei Mizuhara, the longtime interpreter of Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani. In March 2024, Mizuhara was fired by the team after he was accused of stealing more than $16 million from Ohtani to fund his sports betting addiction.
Federal prosecutors found no evidence that Ohtani, MLB’s reigning three-time MVP, five-time All-Star, and 2024 World Series Champion, had knowledge of Mizuhara’s actions or participated in sports gambling himself. In February, Mizuhara was sentenced to 57 months in prison and three years of supervised release.
In Japan, the NPB recently instructed its teams to conduct internal reviews to determine if any players or team members had gambled illegally. The NPB also encouraged franchises to provide educational training detailing what players and staffers can and cannot participate in when it comes to gambling.
Rogue online gambling isn’t limited to pro baseball in Japan. It’s estimated that Japanese people bet $45 billion online last year.
Gambling in Japan
Japan forbids gambling, with the only exceptions being the state-run lottery, sports lottery, and parimutuel wagering on horse races and motorsports. Pachinko remains classified as an amusement, though players can win money.
Japan is amid its liberalization of casino gambling, as MGM Resorts and Orix Corporation are in the early stages of constructing MGM Osaka, a nearly $9 billion venture on Yumeshima Island.
Japanese people will be allowed to gamble at MGM, though they’ll need to pay a ¥3,000 (US$21) entry fee. Residents within Osaka will have their entry doubled, with the goal of the admission charge to limit problem gambling.
All forms of online gambling remain prohibited in Japan.
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