On April 25, 1997, the bill on the Sports Promotion Lottery, the "toto" Soccer Lottery was submitted to the 140th ordinary Diet session as a Diet member-initiated bill by a cross-party panel. The ruling party in the government, LDP, initially planned to enact the bill by the end of the session. The House of Representatives approved the bill on May 25 and sent it to the House of Councillors, which then carried the bill over to the next session.
During the 141st extraordinary Diet session, the bill was debated in the House of Councillors only for one day on December 11, 1997, and was once again carried over to the next session.
During the 142nd ordinary Diet session, the bill was amended on March 18, 1998, and on March 20, it was approved in the House of Councillors after a heated argument on the gambling nature of the Lottery by the education and science committee of the House. The House of Representatives then approved the bill on May 8, and the law was finally enacted.
Although the bill was proposed by a cross-party panel, there is no doubt that the Ministry of Education officials and the LDP members lobbying for the ministry were instrumental in this legislative process.
As part of the legislative process, the ruling party can submit a bill either as a government-sponsored or memberinitiated bill. The Lottery bill was submitted as a member-initiated bill by the cross-party panel in order to protect the government and LDP from direct public criticism with regard to the gambling nature of the Lottery. In fact, most bills have been submitted and enacted as government-sponsored bills.