This weekend, some experts of the Japanese gambling industry revealed their opinion about the ongoing changes brought to the local casino sector. According to them, the country’s Government should consider future casino construction not only in Tokyo and Yokohama, but also in other potential locations for the so-called integrated casino resorts.
The analysis carried out by the Japanese gaming industry experts has showed that both afore-mentioned cities could emerge as locations that have not been convenient enough for future casino developments. As analysts recommended other locations should be considered by competent authorities.
At the time when the report was released, experts said that there was no actual reason for them to assume that Governor Yuriko Koike would like a political fight that would be aimed at popularising a casino initiative that had not been very popular. In addition, experts said that Fumiko Hayashi, the incumbent major of Yokohama has not made any final decisions yet, so it would not be wise to assume that a Yokohama bid is to be made.
Japan is expected to pass its Integrated Resorts Implementation Bill over the second half of 2018 or during the first six months of 2019. The changes in the gambling regulatory landscape which have been recently announced have caused a lot of excitement, but according to analysts it might be some time before integrated casino resorts finally open in Japan.
Latest Discussions on Integrated Casino Resorts
The beginning of April saw the Liberal Democrats and Komeito reach an agreement regarding the key issues related to the integrated casino resorts. Under the agreement, such resorts would be established in three locations in Japan, with the negotiations about the planned casino expansion marking major progress.
When it comes to the locations of the integrated casino resorts, the ruling party in Japan has initially insisted for four to five locations, but it made a compromise as Komeito had not wanted allow so many integrated casino resorts in the country and insisted that the first casinos in Japan should be hosted only by two or three locations. Still, the parties agreed that the maximum number of integrated casino resorts would be revised seven years after the first casino venue gets approval.
After some heated debates, the two parties also managed to agree on the casino entry fee that is set to be imposed under Casino Gambling Bill. The piece of legislation which is set to expand the existing gambling market of the country is to set an entry fee of ¥6,000 for local residents in order for them to be granted with access to a casino, while foreign players would be able to enter Japanese casinos for free.
Before a compromise was reached, the junior coalition partner of the Liberal Democratic Party insisted on the implementation of a ¥8,000 entrance fee to be paid per visit, as it wanted to equalize it to the one charged in Singapore.
- Author
Daniel Williams
