“When I filed for bankruptcy, I felt like I was not alive every day.”
A total of 100 people participated in the survey, including some who had been gambling at a nearby pachinko parlor. To summarize very roughly, 80% of people, mostly middle-aged and older, said they “can understand how he feels” about Mizuhara, who lost nearly 700 million yen on gambling, while 20% of people, mostly young people in their 20s, said they “don’t understand why he did something so stupid.”
This is the exact opposite of the answers given by young people in the #1 report. The answers of those who call themselves “gambling addicts” or “potential addicts” are as follows:
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I lost money gambling and borrowed money for alcohol and cigarettes.
“I had some free time during my business trip today, so I came to the motorboat races. I understand the fun of gambling, but if you have such a large debt, you’ll get desperate and it’ll probably not be that much fun. Some of the gamblers I know are also having their lives affected by it. They can’t even buy cigarettes so they have to pick up cigarette butts to smoke, or they’ve run out of money for drinks so they have to borrow money from others to drink.
It would be fine if I quit smoking and drinking, but if I had the determination to quit, I would quit gambling first. I guess I just have a predisposition to addiction in the first place.” (Male salesman in his 30s from Osaka Prefecture)
It happens all the time…
“I’ve been watching motorboat racing for over 30 years, and there are two types of people who gamble. Those who move on and distance themselves when they lose, and those who get carried away. I think Mizuhara got carried away. It’s common for people to keep betting amounts that could be enough to pay off their debts in one go, and then suddenly end up with an irrecoverable loss.” (Man in his 60s, self-employed, Adachi Ward)

I got so addicted that I filed for bankruptcy…
“It’s okay if they make their own life difficult, but it’s not okay to cause trouble for Otani or other people. That said, there are a lot of people who get into debt because of gambling, so they may be more numb to the guilt of being in debt than the average person.
I myself had the experience of being in my 20s, when I got addicted to slot machines, got into debt with companies and consumer credit companies, and the debt snowballed. I couldn’t see a way to pay it back, and ended up filing for bankruptcy. At that time, I felt like I was not alive.
It wasn’t so much the financial difficulties that made me feel like I was being avoided by the people around me that bothered me. If I just sat around like this, I’d want to die. Now I’m racing boats (laughs). I know I’m going to get some criticism from the public, but I want to convey that one day I’ll be able to live happily.” (Male salesman in his 40s from Kanagawa Prefecture)
Source: Japan