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Gambling in Japan: In a Spin
日本博彩：暈頭轉向
The government has legalised casinos, but Japanese still do not like the idea.
日本政府對于賭場的合法化處理并沒有受到人們歡迎。
MOST forms of gambling are banned in Japan, but many Japanese still like to have a flutter.
雖然日本禁止了大部分的賭博項目，但是許多日本民眾還是喜歡小賭一把。
Over ￥23trn ($203bn) is waged annually on pachinko, a noisy variant of pinball.
每年柏青哥（一種熱鬧、形式多樣的彈球游戲）產業就能創造23萬億日元的收入（約2030億美元）。
Add in lottery tickets, plus horse, boat and bicycle racing—the only other types of betting allowed—and you have a vast industry.
再加上彩票、賽馬、賽船、賽車等（其他幾種能進行賭博的項目），這實際上是個蘊藏巨大商機的產業。
Pachinko players alone spend more than the combined betting revenue of all the casinos in the world's top gambling resort, Macau.
柏青哥玩家們在這一個項目上投入的錢要超過世界頂級賭場勝地澳門的各大賭場收入的總和。
Japan's government has struggled to convince citizens that the current strictures should be relaxed.
日本政府一直試圖讓民眾相信目前嚴格的博彩業管理是可以適度放松的。
When the Diet legalised casinos in December after years of political wrangling, a poll by NHK, the country's public broadcaster, put support for the move at just 12%.
日本放送協會（日本最大的廣播電視機構）做了一項民意調查，結果顯示，當國會經過幾年考慮最終于12月同意將賭博合法化時，這項舉動的支持率只有12%。
The leader of Komeito, a party with Buddhist roots that is part of the governing coalition, voted against the bill.
日本公明黨（與佛教組織有密切關系，現為日本聯合政府一部分的黨派）領袖投票否決此法案。
Critics said it would exacerbate problem gambling and attract “anti-social forces”, a euphemism for Yakuza gangs.
批評家們說這項規定將惡化問題賭博并且會引起反社會分子（也就是日本黑道）的注意。
Shinzo Abe, the prime minister, insists casinos will be only one part of family-friendly resorts, with hotels, shops and conference facilities.
首相安倍晉三堅稱賭場將會是有利于家庭生活的、帶有賓館、商店和會議設施的勝地。
In an anemic economy, his enthusiasm is not hard to understand: the construction of these huge complexes could generate ￥5trn in economic activity—with another ￥2trn a year once they have opened, largely from increased tourism, estimates Makoto Yonekawa of the Daiwa Institute of Research, a think-tank.
在沒有活力的經濟情況下，安倍的熱情并不是很難理解，因為日本大和研究所的智囊團中的Makoto Yonekawa認為這樣巨大的圣地會在經濟活動方面產生5萬億美元，一旦這些場所開了之后，還會產生2萬億美元，這些收益來自不斷增強的旅游業。
Foreign casino-operators have already begun lobbying for a slice of this pie.
外國賭場經營商們已經在暗中爭取經營許可權，尋求當地合作伙伴，從而能及時分得一杯羹。
Las Vegas Sands, MGM Resorts and Hard Rock Café International are among the companies looking for licences and local partners.
拉斯維加斯金沙集團、米高梅度假村硬石咖啡國際集團就位列其中。
Bureaucrats are crafting more legislation to decide how many resorts to permit and where to put them.
官員就在不停規劃賭場區。
This, say analysts, is where the road could get bumpy.
而這就是分析家們說的“不好做”的地方。
譯文來源考研英語時事閱讀
