Study on the Japanese University Students’ Perception on Casinos

The competition of casinos in Asia is intensifying. The purpose of this study is to reveal how Japanese college students, who may become a part of the industry’s labor force, perceive gambling and casinos so as to prepare for what may transpire when casinos are introduced in Japan in the future.
The study first presents the status of casinos in Japan through literature review, examining discussions on perception of casinos and the decision-making process that determines participation in casino activities. Then, through questionnaires, a survey is conducted on the awareness and cultural acceptance level of casinos of Japanese university students. In addition, keywords were extracted from the survey’s qualitative data, associated with the perception of casino and its prospects.
As a result, although the cultural perception on casinos and interests were found to be rather negative, as indicated through the words ‘money,’ 'impression,' 'gambling,' 'bad' and 'terrifying,' students' individual perception on 「institution of casinos」 was described with words such as 'good', 'casino,' 'economy,' 'institution,' and 'tourism.' This implies that while there is a negative perception of casinos as they have not been introduced in Japan, institution of casinos is expected to have a positive and significant impact on the development of tourism and economic growth in Japan.
Currently, there is a lack of studies on the perception of university students regarding the institution of casinos. Thus, the significance of this study reveals that it revealed that Japanese University students possess a positive perception towards the idea of casino institutions. The perception of university students who could work in the casino industry is a dominant factor in securing human resources for the future. This study targeted university students in the Osaka area, and a comparison of perceptions with university students from other areas is left as a future task.