On December 25 last year, Tokyo prosecutors arrested Tsukasa Akimoto, a member of the governing LDP party, on suspicion of receiving 3.7 million yen ($34,000) in bribes from Chinese sports betting group 500.com.
Akimoto, who denies any wrongdoing, has been a proponent of introducing casinos -- also called integrated resorts -- to Japan, and his arrest had immediate negative consequences for the industry: the opposition party announced that it would submit a bill in 2020 to ban them.
