Japanese Lottery: How to Become a Millionaire in Japan! | Guidable - Your Guide to a Sustainable, Wellbeing-centred Life in Japan

Japanese Lottery: How to Become a Millionaire in Japan!

By Guidable Writers Oct 5, 2017

Are you living in Japan? Or are you planning to live in Japan? You are not a person who dislikes money, are you? Would you like to win the lottery and become a millionaire?! In Japan, there are so many lotteries where people could get up to 1 billion Japanese yen with great luck!

Becoming a Millionaire in Japan

Let me make it clear before the dream starts that, unfortunately, the ratio of return of 46% is not so high in Japan as compared to countries like the United States, China, and Dubai, where it stands at 61%, 65%, and 72%, respectively. However, as a foreigner, you can purchase lottery tickets without any trouble, nor are you obliged to pay any taxes in Japan when winning a jackpot. If you transfer the winning prize to your country or bring your earnings back home, you have to follow the law there. For example, people may have to pay around 30% in taxes in the United States.

Winning the lottery and becoming a millionaire in Japan

Just as the title mentioned, I’ll introduce what lotteries are available in Japan and how and when you could use them to become a millionaire in Japan.

5 Main Lotteries in Japan

The following five lotteries are available in Japan:

1. Basic Japanese Lotteries

There are many basic Japanese lotteries in Japan that are sold occasionally nationwide or area-by-area. The first prize ranges from 1 million yen to 250 million yen, and the selling price is between 100 and 500 yen per lottery depending on the lottery. The numbers are assigned from 001-100000 to 100-199999, which transfers into a total of 10,000,000 lotteries. The possibility of the first prize is roughly between one out of 1 million and one out of 10 million, depending on the amount of the first prize. You could at least get the same amount of the price per lottery if you purchase 10 lotteries without choosing them randomly. This means, if you purchase ten 200-yen lotteries with 2,000 yen, you could get 200 yen back at least.

2. Jumbo Lotteries

Jumbo lotteries are sold periodically, five times per year. The first prize is between 100 and 700 million yen and the selling price is usually 300 yen per lottery. The possibility of winning the first prize is typically one out of 10 million. Like the basic Japanese lotteries, you could get at least 300 yen if you purchase 10 lotteries without choosing randomly.

3. Lotto

There are 3 kinds of Lotto called Lotto 5, 6, and 7. You can choose five numbers out of 31 numbers (200 yen per lotto), six out of 43 (200 yen/lotto), or seven out of 37 (300 yen/lotto) on a marking entry sheet. The highest possible first prizes are 40 million, 400 million, and 800 million yen. You could also buy up to 10 shares (2,000 or 3,000 yen) and/or 10 continuous lottos at once with the same numbers you choose for 10 times drawings. These lottos are drawn one to two times weekly: every Tuesday for Lotto 5, Monday and Thursday for Lotto 6, and Friday for Lotto 7.

4. Numbers

There are 2 kinds of Numbers called Numbers 3 and 4. You could choose 3 or 4 numbers such as 123 or 1234. The theoretical possibilities for the first prize should be 1/1,000 for Numbers 3 and 1/10,000 for Numbers 4. As the possibilities are comparatively lower than those of other lotteries mentioned, the highest amount of the first prizes are about 100,000 yen for Numbers 3 and 1,000,000 yen for Numbers 4. You could also purchase 10 continuous lotteries with the same numbers. Both Numbers 3 and 4 are drawn every weekday.

5. Scratch Lotteries

You can immediately find out if you win or not by scratching the lottery ticket right after purchasing. Usually, the selling price is 200 yen per lottery, and the first prize is between about 100,000 yen and 10,000,000 yen. These lotteries are sold on a daily basis.

You might not be able to get any money back for all Lottos and Numbers different from “Basic Japanese Lottery” and “Jumbo Lottery,” even if you purchase 10 shares, as the possibility of Lotto 7, for example, to get the lowest prize is only one out of 25.

Please be careful that the expiration date of all winning lotteries is one year after the drawings.  

Other Millionaire Lotteries

Recently, a new lottery called BINGO 5 has started to be sold. This lottery is a little bit complicated. You should choose one number each from eight boxes (the center box is free like in Bingo). For example, you should choose one number out of 1 – 5 from the left box on the first row, one number from 6 – 11 from the middle box on the first row….until you pick one number each from eight boxes. When you get all eight lines with those eight numbers, you could win the first prize. The possible amount of the prize is just over 5 million yen. The winning possibility is about 1/400,000. You could purchase up to 10 shares and five continuous lotteries with your same selections. This BINGO 5 is drawn on every Wednesday.

Chase the Dream and Become a Millionaire

win the lottery and become a millionaire

Even though the winning possibility of these lotteries should be the same all over in Japan, some people have been purchasing at the special spots called “Lucky Center”. The most famous one is “Nishi-Ginza-Chance-Center” in Tokyo, and there are many such lucky spots in Japan that can be found online.

As I mentioned, you might be able to become a millionaire if you’re lucky enough. Would you like to try it? Then, if you would get the jackpot, please send me 1 % of your earnings as my consultation fee, ha, ha! Gooooooood luck!