Japan Sends Police Representative to Curaçao for the First Time Over Offshore Casinos

^{Japanese Police / © Shutterstock}

Japan has intensified its efforts to tackle offshore online casinos. A representative from the National Police Agency (NPA) visited Curaçao for the first time, asking local authorities to take action against operators serving users in Japan, according to The Japan News.

During the meeting, the NPA official told Curaçao authorities that online casinos targeting Japanese players violate Japanese law. Japanese officials asked the island’s authorities to require licensed operators to stop offering services to users in Japan.

Curaçao has become a key jurisdiction for licensing offshore online casinos targeting Japanese players. According to the NPA’s review, Anjouan — part of the Union of the Comoros — was another popular jurisdiction among operators serving the Japanese market.

Japan has already tried to address the issue through diplomatic channels. Since May 2024, the NPA, with support from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, has been working with countries and territories where online casino operators are registered, urging them to shut down sites aimed at Japanese users or restrict access to them. Curaçao was among the jurisdictions involved in these efforts.

Despite these measures, foreign online casinos remain accessible to users in Japan. In September 2025, amendments to Japan’s basic law on gambling addiction measures came into effect, explicitly making it illegal to create or operate online casinos targeting the domestic market. However, many operators continue to operate, and requests from Japanese authorities to remove such sites have generally not led to action.