The long wait for international casinos in Japan will continue. What will be the second-largest casino market in the world has been stalled again in the Japanese legislature.
Source: Dreamstime: Shinzo Abe
The ruling Liberal Democratic Party has abandoned its attempt to push through a casinos bill in the current, already-extended, session of Parliament.
According to the Shingetsu News Agency, it was decided to sacrifice the bill in favour of pushing through other unpopular regulations, including the much-criticised Legislation for Peace and Security.
Hopes for an integrated resorts bill in this session have been waning in recent weeks together with the power of some of its most influential backers, who include Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
At this time there is no indication of when the bid to legalise casinos will be resumed. Prime Minister Abe has seen his popularity ratings fall as he has pushed through the much-criticised security laws and he is clearly unwilling to sacrifice his credibility still further with a casino law, which is not universally popular.
The Tokyo Shimbun recently conducted a survey which showed that 65 per cent of the sample surveyed was against the legalising of casinos with only 30 per cent in favour. The ruling Komeito Party is in tune with about two-thirds of the public in fearing that casinos will result in higher levels of gambling addiction, crime and send out negative signals to Japanese children.
