Japan risks falling behind China on casino plan-MP

TOKYO, Mar 7 (Reuters) Japan must push ahead with a plan to develop casino gambling or risk losing out to China and other Asian nations, an influential ruling party lawmaker said.

Critics of the plan say addiction to gambling could undermine the country's culture of hard work, corrupt teens and the casinos could be used as a source of funding for gangs.

But lawmaker Seiko Noda said legalisation of casinos was part of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's policy and a party panel hoped to submit a bill to parliament next year.

Speaking at a seminar amid the fake Roman pillars and painted blue sky of a US-style shopping mall in the Odaiba harbour area of Tokyo -- a likely venue for a future casino -- Noda said Japan could lose out on a potentially lucrative industry.

''If China goes ahead and opens casinos first, there will be little point in Japan opening casinos in a few years' time,'' Noda told the audience yesterday. ''I feel we are at a critical moment.'' ''Macao is booming, and some people say it may even overtake Las Vegas,'' Noda said. ''Singapore, which arguably once had an even more conservative view than Japan, has changed its policy,'' she added, before taking part in a demonstration game of roulette.

Tokyo governor Shintaro Ishihara proposed the idea of building casinos in the city in 1999 as a way of boosting the debt-ridden capital's finances.

Proponents of the idea say that it will also help tourism, as Japan struggles to raise the number of incoming visitors from 7.3 million in 2006.

Gambling is entrenched in the everyday life of Asia's richest country. There is a ''pachinko'' pinball parlour on almost every shopping street and betting on horse, boat and bicycle racing is popular, as is the national lottery.

Pachinko alone turns over about 30 trillion yen a year.

But progress has been slow on changing the law to allow casinos, partly due to public reluctance.

''Of course there are risks associated with this,'' Noda said. ''But if we want to be a 'grown-up' country, we should take on challenges without being afraid.'' Ichiro Tanioka, head of Osaka University of Commerce and a specialist in crime studies told the meeting there were social costs associated with the gambling industry, but that they were not as serious as some critics say.

''The establishment of casinos does not lead to a rise in crime,'' he said.

Gambling addiction risks could be offset by requiring casino operators to fund research into the problem and treatment of addicts, as in other countries, he said.

Reuters SRS VP0437