Next week may see a bill enacted in the Japanese Parliament, the Diet, that will permit the introduction of international-standard land-based casinos into the country for the first time.
The ruling Liberal Democrats in the Lower House Cabinet Committee said last week that they would attempt to enact the many-times-stalled casinos bill by December 14.
The intention of the LDP is to pass the bill through the committee and vote on it tomorrow, December 6. The party’s junior coalition party, the Komeito, has been a stumbling block in the past for the bill, reacting to outside concerns about gambling addiction and criminal involvement, especially money-laundering.
But there was only minimal opposition last week when Komeito held a meeting to discuss the matter. The main opposition, the Democratic Party, boycotted the session of the Lower House Cabinet Committee in protest.
The casino legislation was first introduced into the Diet three years ago by an all-party group, which has consistently argued that the bill was intended to bring into the country integrated resorts rather than casinos on their own. It would, said the group, include hotels, conference centres, theatres and casinos. During last week’s committee session in the Lower House, LDP lawmaker Takeshi Iwaya commented: “We are not thinking at all about creating casinos alone. We are thinking of complex entertainment facilities.”
