Japan’s casino legislation has taken a giant step forward after the lower house officially passed the IR Implementation Bill on Tuesday, paving the way for the nation’s first integrated resorts.
The bill will now head to the upper house where the ruling Liberal Democratic Party will try to pass it through before the end of the current Diet session. The session is due to finish on Wednesday, however the LDP has declared its intention to extend the session into July in order to pass its IR bill among others.
If successful, the door will be open for the world’s casino operators to start their campaigning in earnest for one of three initial IR licenses to be offered, with two likely to be located in major Japanese cities and one in a regional location.
According to local media reports, senior members of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan alongside those from five opposition parties expressed their opposition to House of Representatives Speaker Tadamori Oshima regarding any extension to the current Diet session but were told they had no legal grounds to stand on.
Assuming the IR Implementation Bill does pass through the upper house by July as anticipated, it is believed that Japan’s first integrated resorts will open their doors around 2025.
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