Japan Parliament to Vote on a Casino Bill

Japan’s casino lawmakers have submitted a casino bill to parliament on Tuesday. The lawmakers hope that the bill will be passed before July or August, when current parliamentary season ends. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has always been one of the supporters for the casino legislation as is the majority of his Liberal Democratic Party.

According to Reuters, casino bill was introduced by the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), Party for Future Generations and the Japan Innovation Party. Even though the bill was submitted into the procedure, it was not revealed when it would be discussed or voted on.

The idea to legalize casinos in Japan has been discussed for over a decade, but the bill has been delayed due to the opposition of lawmakers. Many members of Komeito, Abbe’s Buddhist-backed junior coalition party oppose casino legislation. Komeito is concerned that legislation of casinos in Japan can lead to increased crime and gambling addiction.

Ashai newspaper reported last year that more than 5m Japanese are addicted to gambling, which is about 5% of the population.

Komeito’s leader Natsuo Yamaguchi said in an interview from November last year, that public needs better education on the casino legislation before they support it. He thinks that public is unaware of potential harm and negative impact that casinos could have, especially on young people. Shinzo Abe, on the contrary, thinks that Japan needs casinos in order to boost the economy and attract more tourists.

Industry experts have said that Japan is one of the world’s last untapped gambling markets and many companies have already expressed interest in expanding to Japan. Companies such as MGM Resorts International and Las Vegas Sands have stated that they will do whatever it takes to operate a casino in Japan.

Japan casino lawmakers were planning to construct and open resorts until beginning of 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, when numerous tourist will visit Japan. However analysts have explained that it is now difficult to expect that casino will be opened and ready to operate before the beginning of the Olympic Games.

If the bill doesn’t pass during the current season, Japan will have to wait again for a casino legislation. The failure of the bill would delay the drafting of the second bill that would regulate the casino industry. The second bill would regulate the location and number of resorts in Japan, licenses and size of gambling facilities. It would also decide whether Japanese would be allowed to gamble.

Failure of the bill would also cause withdrawal of potential operators and investments in Japan’s gambling market.

Photo: businessinsider