The Singapore model of casinos as part of integrated resorts has been closely studied by Japan.
Several Japanese government officials have visited the city state in recent years, ahead of the Japanese parliament enacting a law to legalise casino gambling in the country.
Despite being one of the world’s top casino gambling destinations, Singapore is a shadow of Macau or Las Vegas, with its only two casinos tucked away inconspicuously in sprawling resort facilities meant to beckon visitors with other attractions as well as betting.
The wealthy but strait-laced island nation broke with its Asian conservatism to allow the first two casinos to be established in 2010 as part of so-called integrated resorts - the Marina Bay Sands downtown and the Resorts World Sentosa on Sentosa island, off southern Singapore.
In doing so, it took a highly regulated, calibrated approach that tried to find a balance between the need to stay ahead of the competition as a tourist destination while also introducing safeguards to shelter the local population from the downside of gambling.
