Inside Asian Gaming

IAG JUL 2020年7月 亞博匯 85 Tokyo will only have up to one year to play catch-up with the processes other regions have been establishing for years. It’s a particularly tight deadline. 東京最多只有一年的時間來追趕其他地方多年 的進程。距離截止日所剩時日無多。 日本 東 京正在吸引人們的目光。本文落筆之時，這個有 著3800萬人口的都市圈正在為7月5日的東京 都知事的選舉做準備。為何會引起如此多的關 注？對於全球博彩業而言，一個價值數十億美 元的問題仍然是，東京是否會參與開發綜合度 假村（IR）。 東京都知事的候選人正在就IR競標一事提出他們的看法和承 諾。而從歷史上看，無論時任知事是誰，東京在是否參與競標一事上 其實一直搖擺不定。現時，小池百合子已再獲當選連任，這對日本蓬 勃發展的賭業將意味著甚麼呢？ 東京IR史 東京與賭場的關係由來已久，無疑，這個龐大的大都會在萌發 引入賭場的想法上，比日本任何一個城市都更早。 時間回到20年前，1999年4月石原慎太郎競選東京都知事的時 刻。石原曾承諾要讓東京的賭場變成現實，他也是憑藉這一點當選 了知事。此後一直擔任東京都知事長達12年零6個月，直至2011年。 石原的立場是：「在沿海台場地區建立賭場將創造1萬個就業機會。」 他曾說過：「東京是世界上唯一一個人口超過百萬卻沒有賭場 his stance to bringing that legislation to the national government. In 2003, he announced that the Odaiba Casino Concept would be abandoned. Things went quiet for the next nine years until 2012, when Ishihara’s time in office ended and Naoki Inose took over. In June 2013, Governor Inose announced he would “Aim to establish an integrated resort including casino (IR) in the Tokyo Waterfront City district.” Many thought he would proceed with an IR bid in Tokyo, but instead he resigned six months later due to financial woes. It was Yoichi Masuzoe who took over the position of governor in February 2014. Masuzoe emphasized his neutral stance on IRs, stating, “There is a possibility of a bid with national legislation, investigation, discussion and acceptance within Tokyo.” The Tokyo Metropolitan Government has been conducting regular research on IRs since then and