40 Japan Municipalities Apply for Casino Licenses

Japanese media outlet Nihon Keizai Shinbun reported that, there are 40 municipalities at this time in the country that are interested in joining the bidding process for Japan’s recently approved integrated resort (IR) market.

Given the fact that only three IRs are expected to be authorized in the initial round, the competition will be more than tough.

Meanwhile, the government hasn’t been twiddling its fingers either. Shinzo Abe, the Prime Minister of Japan, has expressed a sentiment that he and his fellow party members would like to see casinos open door as soon as possible. There has been some controversy over whether politicians have accepted kickbacks to speed things along, although these claims have been quickly dismissed, though.

Some of the most favourited IR locations include: Osaka, which is consistently mentioned as being at the top of the list and the region’s governor, Ichiro Matsui has been pushing the country to speed up the IR location process, next in line are Tokyo and Yokohama.

Even after the country’s Diet makes its decision on where the IRs will be located, it will still be a number of years before gambling is seen in Japan. Following the choosing of the locations, the casino operators will bid for a license and many, such as MGM, Sands and Melco, have wasted no time schmoozing the municipalities, especially Osaka. According to reports, 11 casinos have held a combined 199 meetings with Osaka’s governor since May 2017.

Source: calvinayre.com