As lawmakers in Japan discuss reintroducing a bill to legalise casinos, Osaka and Yokohama are reportedly the favourites to host the first resorts.
However, concerns over a rise in gambling addiction and other social issues are also increasing. In particular, many members of Komeito, the junior coalition partner, fear such adverse impacts.
Many experts say the odds are low for a start by 2020, when Japan hosts the Olympic Games, as some local governments would like. When Prime Minister Shinzo Abe dissolved the Lower House last November, a number of bills were still in discussion. One of these would have allowed limited, casino-style gambling in designated integrated resort areas.
Over 20 municipalities have expressed interest in such resorts, which, in addition to casinos, would include hotels, theme parks, convention facilities, shopping malls and entertainment venues. For cash-strapped local governments, such attractions are seen as a way to draw tourists, especially from overseas.
Political support is particularly strong in Osaka and Yokohama. In Osaka, the man-made island of Yumeshima in Osaka Bay is the favoured location. In October, the prefecture and city, along with senior officials from major business organisations, set up a joint committee to discuss the specifics of bringing a gambling resort complex to Yumeshima.
Meanwhile, Yokohama Mayor Fumiko Hayashi has expressed support for building such a complex. Like Osaka, the city plans to continue to budget IR-related research. A plot of land about 50 hectares in size adjacent to Yamashita Park is the favoured location.
But Takashi Kiso, CEO of the Tokyo-based International Casino Institute and a leading integrated resort advocate, says there is still a long way to go before the first casino opens its doors.
“The annexed document of the IR promotional bill indicated the government would develop qualifications for areas of IR development after the promotional bill is enacted. Moreover, the location will be selected through a bidding process among local governments,” he said.
Kiso added that, with only five years until the Tokyo Olympics, it would be virtually impossible for local governments who win casino licences to open the kind of resorts they now have on the drawing board. “The only way an IR will open by 2020 is if the government allows it to partially open before the Olympics.”
