Ten years from now the new gambling district in Japan, wherever it will end up being built, could be on the way to becoming the new Macau. As of last week, Japan’s parliament surprisingly legalized gambling in the island nation, despite the fact that opinion polls show that the Japanese public is against it. So why legalize it? In order to stimulate the stagnant Japanese economy.

Japan’s economic policy has long been deeply into Keynesian-type megastimulus schemes, far more than any other modern country on the planet. Japan has the highest debt to GDP ratio of any nation on Earth at 230%, a central bank balance sheet  expansion since the tenure of Shinzo Abe that looks truly insane, and an aging population that hasn’t grown since the turn of the century and has actually shrunk 1% since 2011. This makes sense considering a study was just published in September that found that 40% of Japanese singles are virgins. Maybe a gambling hub could help alleviate that problem somewhat?

Nevertheless, now is definitely not the time to buy Japan. The timing of this legalization, however, is pretty good. The first casinos are not slated to be in operation for another 7 years or so around 2022, giving plenty of time for the obscene Japanese debt bubble to pop in the meantime. Japan has been building its debt pile for decades, having surpassed 100% of GDP way back in 1996. The United States just passed that level in 2012. Calls for a Japanese collapse have been made before and the monetary regime is still standing, but the 7 year cushion until gaming starts up there gives investors two clear options.

First, if there is some kind of monetary and/or debt crisis in Japan within the next 7 years before the industry starts up, then it’s definitely worth an investment since all the garbage, or at least a good chunk of it, will have been cleared out. If the debt mountain keeps expanding though, then it’s a better idea to hold off until something does fall, because you don’t want to be caught with positions in Japan when it does.