Noriko Tanaka
Message from the Representative Director
Despite being referred to as “a gambling superpower”, Japan is said to be lagging behind other countries by 10 to 30 years in taking action about Gambling Addiction, However, under adverse conditions, there are some people who fortunately have found the information and have access to the treatment facilities or the self-help groups of gamblers or families. I am one of them.
In 2004, I learnt that there was a disorder called Gambling Addiction through my husband’s repeated debt problem. I was really frustrated going to self-help groups or visiting counseling centers, and then I finally realized that my father and his father were also gambling addicts and that was why I had always been surrounded by the unfortunate events. Afterwards, my husband and I underwent a twelve-step program and now we’re living together peacefully in recovery.
Gambling Addiction is a very brutal disorder like a tornado which does so much harm to those around and precipitates them into despair. However, I can tell you there is a way out. We can get better again and we can be freer, we can live a life more peacefully filled with more love than we used to. Even in our country, Gamblers and families who are recovering from gambling problems do exist even though the number is small. This is the reality.
We believe the expanding of correct knowledge about Gambling Addiction will not only save the ones experiencing it, but also contribute to relieve problems and crimes in our society such as multiple debts, poverty, suicide, embezzlement, stealing and child-abuse which may be closely associated with this disorder. The moment has come that like-minded people consisting of families, medical professionals, welfare workers, and other persons involved, we officially come into existence as The Society Concerned about Gambling Addiction. We would like the public to understand our principle and we sincerely ask for further support as we pursue these challenges.
The Society Concerned about Gambling Addiction
Representative Director
Noriko Tanaka
Noriko Tanaka Profile
Sept. 1964
Born in Nakano Ward, Tokyo
Mar. 1986
B.A. in Japanese Literature, Showa Women’s University Junior College
Feb. 2004
Connect to a self-help group for gamblers.
Feb. 2014
Association for Gambling Addiction Appointed as Representative Director
She is the wife of a third generation gambler whose grandfather, father, and husband were all gamblers, and she is also a gambling and shopping addict.
Together with her husband, she recovered from her gambling addiction problem in a self-help group; she is now a member of the Gambling Addiction Association of Japan (GAAJ).
She wants to pass on this experience and is available for consultation and support from parties and families with gambling addiction problems.
Academic Affiliations Japanese Medical Society of Alcohol and Addiction Studies
Career as a committee member
2016
Member of Chiba Prefecture Addiction Prevention Study Council
2017 –
Planning committee member of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare’s public awareness program to deepen understanding of addiction
2018
Japanese delegate to the “International Conference on Drugs and Addiction Problems in Vatican” organized by the Pope
2020
Member of the Investigative Committee for the Hyogo Prefecture Gambling Addiction Prevention and Countermeasures Promotion Plan
2020
Member of Tokyo Metropolitan Government Planning Committee for the Promotion of Measures to Combat Gambling and Other Addictive Diseases
Winning (a prize)
2018
25th Japanese Society of Alcohol and Addiction Medicine Best Paper Award
(Award-winning paper)
What Differentiates Pathological Gamblers from Gambling Enthusiasts: A Study of Clinical Characteristics of Pathological Gamblers Using the LINE App Self-Screening Test
Noriko Tanaka, Toshihiko Matsumoto, Nobuaki Morita, Tomokazu Kimura
Journal of the Japanese Society of Alcohol and Drug Medicine 53 (6), 264-282, 2018-12
Paper
Examining Factors Influencing the Severity of Gambling Disorders
Kiyomi Arai, Nobuaki Morita, Yasukazu Otani, Noriko Tanaka
Journal of the Japanese Society of Alcohol and Drug Medicine 51(3)=257:2016.6P153-172
The Process of Change in the Perception of Pathological Camping : Focusing on the Process of Gambling Problems Becoming More Serious
Kiyomi Arai, Nobuaki Morita, Noriko Tanaka, Taku Sato Addiction and the Family: Journal of the Japanese Society for Addictive Behaviors / Institute for Family Functioning, ed. 31 (2), 150-158, 2016-06
Creation of an iPhone application to provide information for women with addiction issues.
Yoshiko Xu, Yukiko Kawaguchi, Noriko Tanaka, Kimiyako Ishikawa, Keiji Tanaka Journal of the Japanese Society for Alcohol-Related Problems 17 (1), 143-149, 2015-09
What Differentiates Pathological Gamblers from Gambling Enthusiasts : A Study of Clinical Characteristics of Pathological Gamblers Using the LINE App Self-Screening Test
Noriko Tanaka, Toshihiko Matsumoto, Nobuaki Morita, Tomokazu Kimura Journal of the Japanese Society of Alcohol and Drug Medicine 53 (6), 264-282, 2018-12
A Study of the Actual Situation of Addiction among Athletes and Factors Influencing Its Problematization: Focusing on Athletes and People Surrounding Them.
Sports Psychiatry 16 (0), 18-30, 2019-08-22
MISC
Gambling Addiction Disease Concepts and Recidivism Prevention Measures
Criminal Policy 127 (8), 16-24, 2016-08
Drug Cases and the Challenges of Media Coverage
Psychiatric Therapeutics / Editorial Board of “Psychiatric Therapeutics” ed. 32 (11), 1513-1515, 2017-11
The Road to Recovery from Gambling Hell
Monthly Hodanren (1247) 16-21, 2017-09
Gambling debt and the family’s desire for assistance : where to go for help?
Kokoro no Kagaku (202), 71-75, 2018-11
Urgent Measures Against Gambling Addiction
Monthly Jichi Ken / Jichi Ken Central Promotion Committee, ed. 60 (706), 10-15, 2018-07Jichi Ken Service
Recovery from Gambling Addiction
Rehabilitation / Japan Rehabilitation and Conservation Association (JRCA) No. 69 (3), 28-31, 2018-03 Japan Rehabilitation and Conservation Association (JRCA)
Self-help groups and family support for behavioral addictions
Journal of the Japan Medical Association = 149 (6), 1067-1071, 2020-09 Japan Medical Association
New Developments in Clinical Psychiatry and Peripheral Areas (Vol. 8): The Problem of Gambling Addiction
Psychiatry = Psychiatry / Editorial Board of Psychiatry ed. 41 (4), 573-575, 2022-10 Kagaku hyoron-sha
Activities of Party Organizations
Psychiatry = Psychiatry / Editorial Board of Psychiatry, ed. 41 (2), 323-329, 2022-08 by Scientific Review
What to Consider from Support for Gambling Addiction
Kokoro no Kagaku (224), 70-76, 2022-07 Nippon Hyoronsha, Inc.