Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says casinos will be integral to the success of his government’s strategy for reviving the country’s economy, boosting hopes that a bill in the national parliament to legalize the industry, which appeared dead for 2014, will be enacted into law later this year.
“Integrated resorts are expected to provide a great contribution to tourism, regional economies and industry, I think, and can be one of the key elements of Japan’s growth strategy,” the prime minister told Bloomberg.
Mr Abe visited Singapore’s two casino super-resorts last month and said he liked what he saw, adding that a resort industry on a similar scale in Japan would complement the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
Debate on the legalization bill started only this month in the National Diet’s House of Representatives, six months after it was introduced by lawmakers of the governing coalition led by Mr Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party. As the bill languished into late spring, expectations faded of passing it in the regular session that ended last Sunday, and some lawmakers suggested the issue would not be visited again before 2015. However, Mr Abe told Bloomberg last week he will push to revive the measure in the fall.
“I hope in my capacity as leader of the LDP that we can aim to pass it in the next extraordinary session of the Diet,” he said.
This is not impossible given that the LDP enjoys majorities in both the House of Representatives and the upper House of Councillors.
“I want to pass it in the lower house at the beginning of the next session of parliament, then enact it without fail in the upper house,” said Hiroyuki Hosoda, the LDP lawmaker who heads a pro-casino caucus in the House of Representatives that is reported to number 200 members.
Economy Minister Akira Amari also has said the bill should have enough votes to pass. “If a vote is held, those in favor will be in the majority,” he told reporters earlier this month, although he added that allaying concerns about gambling’s potential social negatives would be an important part of the process. “I think there is know-how around the world about developing it as a healthy pastime and tourist attraction,” he said.
Tourism is a key selling point for advocates. It’s an increasing source of growth for the country, which is poised to host a record number of foreign visitors in 2014, attracted by a weaker yen and the easing of visa rules. In April, spending by incoming tourists exceeded outlays by Japanese going abroad for the first time in 44 years.
“Our ‘Visit Japan’ and Abenomics policies need this policy,” said one supporter, LDP lawmaker Masaaki Taira. “The ‘Godfather world’ is over.”
Japan already is home to a sizable gambling market—comprised of lotteries and pachinko, a pinball-style machine game, and betting on horse, boat and bicycle races—and some analysts estimate a dozen or so casinos centered on large-scale resorts in Tokyo and Osaka could generate US$40 billion in gaming revenue a year. The prospects have attracted an A-list of global operators—Las Vegas Sands, MGM Resorts International, Melco Crown Entertainment, Wynn Resorts and Genting, among them—who say they’re prepared to spend billions to develop it.
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