cypherpunks

Professor pines for 'Punter's Paradise'

By Ryann Connell
Staff Writer

February 16, 2003
Some of Japan's brightest minds have joined forces in the hope of turning 
the country into a "Punter's Paradise," judging by what Shukan Shincho 
(2/20) has to say.
Though strictly controlled and theoretically limited by law only to 
horseracing and cycling, gambling is a prominent part of Japanese lives and 
many municipalities across the land have been calling for a revision of 
tough anti-gambling laws so they can set up licensed casinos.

But few appear to take their betting as serious as the newly formed 
Gambling and Gaming Academic Society of Japan, the brainchild of Osaka 
University of Commerce Prof. Ichiro Tanioka.

As its name suggests, the society is devoted to the study of gaming and 
gambling and emphasizes the benefits such pastimes can have for the wider 
society. Its initial annual general meeting on Feb. 1 attracted 
considerable luminaries.

"We had university professors and researchers, professional shogi (Japanese 
chess) players, pachinko machine makers and bankers among the roughly 50 
people who attended," a source from Daishodai, the common Japanese name for 
the Osaka University of Commerce, tells Shukan Shincho.

Considering the seedy reputation gambling has throughout much of Japan, the 
society may be up against it trying to focus on the virtues of a punt. Not 
surprisingly considering the nature of its existence, the society knows 
what's at stake.

One way it plans to wax lyric about betting is by commissioning studies to 
counter research into the ill effects of having a wager. For instance, if 
there is a study going on about gaming addiction, the society will start 
concurrent research into how punting can be a stress reliever.

What the society perhaps didn't bet on was just how little response it 
would attract. Despite a strong call for corporate supporters, it hasn't 
managed to find a single one yet. And it isn't yet able to boast of the 
backing of a single municipal government, Shukan Shincho notes.

How the gambling study society progresses from here is, well, anyone's bet.

http://mdn.mainichi.co.jp/waiwai/0302/0216punters.html