Details emerge of Japan’s draft casino legalization bill
Not only Japan’s biggest cities but also its regional areas will get a chance to host resort casinos under legislation being drafted for introduction in the Diet in the weeks ahead.
An outline of the legislation reviewed by Bloomberg does not specify locations. It does recommend that the number of casinos be limited initially before considering whether to gradually increase them. This is with a view to precluding crime and social problems, which are big issues for lawmakers. All operators and suppliers would be required to obtain licenses, according to the outline, which also recommends that inspectors be appointed to monitor casinos for illegal activities.
“There are great hopes as regards casinos from the point of view of building up tourism,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said in a recent interview with reporters. “At the same time the whole government must consider whether this is possible from the standpoint of crime prevention and maintaining order.”
Hiroyuki Hosoda, who chairs the Diet’s pro-casino caucus, says the group aims to submit a casino bill to the next parliamentary session, expected to start next month, with a view to passing the bill in the following session next year. What’s key is that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is believed to support legalization as a tool to drive foreign visitation and help revive the country’s stagnant economy. Tokyo’s selection as host of the 2020 Summer Olympics has added momentum to the push.
As the third-largest economy in the world and the second-largest in Asia, Japan is considered a market with massive potential. The population is large and relatively affluent and though casinos are not legal, the propensity of the Japanese to gamble is massive, as evidenced by the size of the pachinko industry and the levels of betting on horse, boat and bicycle races. Analysts believe one destination-scale casino in Tokyo and one in Osaka would generate a combined US$10 billion in gaming revenue out of the gate, meaning Japan could well be the second-largest casino jurisdiction in the world after Macau.
Las Vegas Sands, Melco Crown Entertainment, Wynn Resorts, MGM Resorts International and Caesars Entertainment are among big industry names willing to invest billions in developing the market. All say they either plan to or are open to joining with Japanese companies. Bloomberg mentions Mitsui & Co., Mitsubishi and Itochu Corp. as possible partners, together with gaming machine makers Sega Sammy Holdings and Konami.
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