By Mari Yamaguchi
The Associated Press

TOKYO - It was a rare taste of Las Vegas in Tokyo, and for two days the casino crowds hosted by Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara pumped the handles of slot machines and bet feverishly on the roulette wheel.

Although better known for his hawkish advocacy of building a stronger, more assertive Japan, Tokyo's often controversial leader has found a new cause: legalized casino-style gambling.

And, on this one, ha has a lot of support.

Japan's capital is badly in need of money. Tokyo has been losing money for four years in a row and suffered an $80.65 million deficit in fiscal 2001. Tax revenue is expected to plunge this year, prolonging Tokyo's fiscal slump.

In a report published in October, the Tokyo government estimated that building casinos could generate $733.87 million in casino revenues, $177.41 million in tax revenue and create 13,800 jobs.

"We need to create jobs, stay culturally active and maintain sources of revenue," Mr. Ishihara said. "I think casinos can be very appropriate."

Many support plans

With unemployment at record highs, banks teetering under bad loans and stock prices at 19-year-lows, more than a dozen mayors and governors have voiced support for laws to expand the scope of legal gambling.

The central government is listening. Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's tax panel has begun studying the feasibility of casinos, and about 40 lawmakers have set up a team to promote their legalization.

Tokyo, however, is by far the most important and potentially lucrative test market.

Metropolitan government official Yoko Murano says gambling is a money machine that Tokyo has long ignored.

"Even though people are somewhat affected by the economic slump, most Japanese can still afford to spend a little to have fun," Mr. Murano said.

Officials point out that many are doing so already, but not in Japan. According to government report, two-thirds of the visitors to South Korean casinos are Japanese.

For smaller towns, the matter is more urgent.

Though located just a short train ride west of Tokyo, the number of visitors to Atami, where hotels are designed largely for company and group parties, has fallen to 3.1 million last year, half what it was 30 years ago.

Japan is no stranger to gambling. The law here prohibits gaming and betting, but public-run gambling enterprises are common. Gamblers can legally bet on the horses, on bicycle, boat and auto races and also play the lottery.

Privately-operated "pachinko" pinball is also considered a kind of gambling because a legal loophole allows winning prizes to be exchanged for money. The annual payout amounts to some $241.94 billion, about three times as much as Las Vegas' annual earnings.

Tetsuro Murobushi, chairman of the pro-gaming Japan Casino Society, said casinos can create a market worth $241.94 billion and generate about $24.19 billion in tax income for the nation.

Critics warn of problems

Not everyone agrees that casinos will save Japan.

"Gambling causes moral decay. We surely need to promote employment, but there are many other ways to do so," Mako Aramaki said in a letter recently published on the op-ed pages of the Yomiuri, Japan's biggest newspaper.

Mr. Ishihara's critics have raised a host of practical issues - the possibility of organized crime involvement, of corruption, of tax evasion. Lives could be ruined by overindulgence.

Instead of creating a completely new market, the introduction of casinos, some experts say, would just take a cut out of the kinds of gambling that now exist.

"(Casinos') introduction should only be used like a trump card, a last resort," said Shiro Komatsu of the Mitsubishi Research Institute.