A comprehensive study indicates that illegal gambling activities in Japan, especially those related to baseball betting, have shown a rapid growth trend in recent years. It has been nearly three months since Ippei Mizuhara was first exposed for his involvement in sports gambling crimes, and he is now about to surrender to the U.S. federal authorities in June, starting a 57-month prison term.
Ippei Mizuhara, who once served as the translator for baseball superstar Shohei Ohtani, has fallen from grace. Although Ohtani is regarded as a national hero in Japan, this scandal has temporarily tarnished his image among some people. In February this year, Mizuhara was sentenced to a long-term imprisonment for embezzling at least 17 million U.S. dollars of Ohtani's funds for gambling. Born in Tomakomai, Hokkaido, Mizuhara will likely be deported by the U.S. after serving his sentence.
In Japan, baseball is not only a national entertainment but also a hotbed for illegal gambling. According to the latest report from the Committee for the Promotion of the Japanese Sports Ecosystem (CSEP), in 2023, Japanese citizens bet a total of approximately 6.45 trillion yen (about 44.6 billion U.S. dollars) on illegal gambling websites. The report, released on May 14, points out that despite the large scale of gambling, the number of arrests related to gambling crimes remains low.
The expansion trend of the sports betting market shows almost no signs of slowing down. The survey also indicates that about 1 trillion yen of the bets are directly related to domestic events in Japan, drawing increasing attention to the regulatory loopholes in sports gambling in Asia's third-largest economy.
Baseball and the "stain" on Japanese sports
The release of this report coincides with the transfer to prosecutors of two players from the Yomiuri Giants team for gambling in illegal online casinos a few weeks ago.
The players involved are Luis Okoye and Daiki Masuda, who together lost millions of yen in online gambling games such as baccarat and blackjack. Okoye, a nine-year veteran of Japanese professional baseball, has hit 14 home runs with a batting average of .226. According to the Daily News, Okoye's total bets were about 7 million yen, and he ended up losing up to 4.5 million yen.
In February this year, the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) also discovered that 14 players from 7 teams were suspected of participating in illegal gambling activities.
The "Black Mist Scandal" reemerges In 2015, several players from the Yomiuri Giants team admitted to participating in baseball gambling, which had caused widespread social concern. Pitcher Shoki Kasahara was exposed for betting on at least 10 professional and high school baseball games.
Another pitcher, Ryuya Matsumoto, also admitted to betting on more than 10 games within four months, although neither was involved in their own team's games, their actions still caused great controversy. A third pitcher, Satoshi Fukuda, also admitted to betting on high school baseball.
According to The Japan Times, these players had also participated in MLB event betting in the United States. Although no evidence of match-fixing was found, media reports indicated that investigations had explored whether they had connections with organized crime groups. This incident also reminded people of the "Black Mist Scandal" nearly 50 years ago, when several players were bribed by yakuza to manipulate games, causing a shock in the Japanese sports world.
Illegal betting amounts far exceed legal sports lotteries Today, a large amount of gambling money is flowing to overseas websites to bet on domestic baseball games in Japan, becoming one of the market's chaotic phenomena.
According to CSEP data, in 2024, domestic baseball betting in illegal sports gambling amounted to 528.1 billion yen, far exceeding the second-ranked soccer (333.4 billion yen) and basketball (86.9 billion yen). Tennis, volleyball, and rugby are also on the list.
Although horse racing in Japan is legal and popular, most sports betting is restricted.
Currently, Japan only allows limited betting on niche sports such as motorboat and bicycle racing through government-operated lotteries (toto). In the 2024 fiscal year, the legal sports lottery betting amount was only 133.6 billion yen, less than 2% of the total overseas betting amount.
In football events alone, Japanese gamblers have bet trillions of yen.
Mizuhara's betting behavior is extraordinary Ippei Mizuhara was born in Japan, his father a chef, and the family moved to Los Angeles in 1991. He was the goalkeeper for the Diamond Bar High School soccer team, and after returning to Japan, he became a translator for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters.
There, he met Shohei Ohtani, serving as his translator, friend, training partner, and life assistant, and the two formed a deep bond. In 2018, he followed Ohtani to the Los Angeles Angels.
In the United States, Mizuhara became addicted to illegal gambling, placing 19,000 bets with the gambling company Matt Bower over 37 months. He eventually incurred huge losses, and when he broke off relations with Bower, he was already in debt of 40.2 million U.S. dollars.
In March 2024, the media exposed Mizuhara's extensive betting on sports events. Initially, he claimed that Ohtani was aware, but later denied this statement.
He repeatedly impersonated Ohtani in communications with banks, transferring six-figure amounts to the gambling company. The investigation ultimately confirmed Ohtani as a victim, not involved in gambling.
Mizuhara will report to a U.S. federal prison on June 16 to serve his sentence.
Strong reactions in Japanese society Shohei Ohtani, honored as MVP for the third time, is hailed as Japan's "modern Babe Ruth." In March this year, during the Tokyo series, he hit a 99 mph, 389-foot home run.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts praised his performance under the watchful eyes of the Japanese audience, comparing him to a superhero.
After the exposure of the Mizuhara incident, Ohtani quickly clarified that he had never participated in any sports betting.
In the 2024 season, he achieved the first "50 homers + 50 steals" feat in MLB history and hit three home runs in the playoffs, winning the World Series for the first time.
Mizuhara, however, due to his involvement, has been severely criticized in Japan. Taro Abe, a reporter for the China-Japan News, told the Los Angeles Times that the public generally sees Ohtani as an "innocent victim" deceived by Mizuhara. In Japan, almost no one questions his image as a "perfect player."
Tokyo sports journalist Natsuko Aikei called the incident "equivalent to a major presidential election news," noting that Ohtani was already a frequent headline in Japan.
Japan's response measures Last month, MGM Resorts launched a 8.9 billion U.S. dollar casino resort project in Osaka, expected to be completed by 2030, but there are currently no plans to legalize sports betting.
The CSEP report points out that in the face of rampant illegal sports betting, several countries have participated in an information-sharing project led by the European Commission, based on the Macolin Convention, the only global legal instrument specifically targeting sports manipulation.
Although Japan has established a research group to explore countermeasures, it has not yet established a system aligned with the convention.
