Future of Casinos in Japan to be Decided in April

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe plans to wait until after the municipal elections in April to decide whether to push the legislationthat would allow casinos in Japan or not. Abe has always been one of the supporters of the casino legalization as is the majority of his Liberal Democratic Party. However, as lawmakers are discussing about reintroducing casino bill during the Diet session, concerns over rise of gambling addiction are increasing.

The bill faces opposition of Komeito, junior coalition party, because they are concerned about gambling addiction and other social problems in Japan. Many members of Komeito are against legalization of casinos due to negative impacts of the industry but Shinzo Abe sees casino legalization as an opportunity for economic growth, stability and a way to draw more tourists to Japan.

Japan casino legislation was the main topic in 2014 especially when the casino bill failed to reach the lower parliament committee hearing on the proposed bill. Many international gambling companies have expressed interest in untapped gambling market in Japan and are already planning where and which resorts they would like to build.

Sheldon Adelson has also expressed interest in Japan gambling market, claiming that he would spend whatever it takes to operate a casino there while MGM resorts have mentioned opening a resort in Osaka. Casinos would include hotels, convection facilities, entertainment venues and theme parks. If the bill passes, Osaka and Yokohama will probably be the first cities in Japan to host casinos due to the strong political support in these locations.

The main concern resides with the fact that it will be impossible to construct and open resorts until the beginning of 2020 Olympics in Tokyo when a lot of tourists and guests from all around the world will be visiting Japan. It seems that it is not possible to construct and open any kind of resorts for five years especially when it is still unknown when will the casino bill be passed, as Takashi Kiso, CEO of Casino Institute of Tokyo, explained.

Kiso thinks that the only way to open resorts by 2020 is that the government approves partial opening before the large world-wide event.

Gambling is very popular in Japan but only certain forms are allowed, such as lottery, scratch cards, soccer toto wagers on J-League, pari-mutuel betting on horse racing, bicycle racing, powerboat racing and auto races. All other forms of gambling are prohibited but a big percentage of Japan population still places bets, mostly online on overseas websites.

Photo: dailysignal