Kanagawa Prefecture has announced that it will conduct a survey of its citizens regarding gambling and other addictions.
The city of Yokohama in Kanagawa prefecture has announced its plan to bid for an integrated resort (IR) which includes a casino, and thus problem gambling has been a concern. The prefecture will work on anti-addiction measures based on the results of this survey and the results of a similar survey in Yokohama.
A mailed questionnaire will be sent to 6,750 randomly selected residents between the ages of 18 and 74 who live in Kanagawa prefecture to explore a wide range of gambling experiences, frequency and spending. The survey will be conducted from 10 February to 2 March 2020 and cover a wide range of gambling activities such as pachinko and slot machines, horse racing and bike racing, internet gambling, lottery and even securities trading. It will ask about experience, frequency, amounts spent and whether citizens have experienced problems at home due to gambling.
Yokohama city conducted a similar survey in December and January, comprising home visits and interviews, in which it randomly selected 3,000 city residents, so Yokohama will not be included in this survey. The results are expected to be announced in May of this year.
The Problem Gambling Basic Countermeasure Act of 2018 requires prefectures to make efforts to draft promotion plans that will serve as guidelines for anti-addiction measures.
