Japan’s Wakayama prefecture up for second casino bid
The new governor of Wakayama, Japan, supports exploring a casino resort bid in the prefecture.
“The prefecture will look into whether it should try pursuing an IR again from scratch,” said Izumi Miyazaki, who was elected on 2 June.
“Generally speaking, hosting an IR in the prefecture should bring positive economic benefits. On the other hand, there are concerns… such as the possibility of gambling addiction, traffic congestion and labour shortages in [other] industries.”
The former deputy governor succeeded Shuhei Kishimoto, who died suddenly of septic shock in April. Miyazaki, an independent, scored a decisive 5:1 victory over his opponent, Communist Party candidate Michiko Matsusaka.
According to the Japan Times, the Liberal Democratic Party, the Constitutional Democratic Party, the Democratic Party for the People and Komeito all supported Miyazaki.
Wakayama envisions a casino complex that will “create extended-stay tourism that is internationally competitive and attractive”.
With conference facilities, entertainment and sports arenas, cultural attractions and more, the Japan casino complex would “thereby contribute to the promotion of tourism and the regional economy as well as to the improvement of public finances”.
Two out of three licences still up for grabs
Japan first legalised integrated resorts with gaming in 2018, with a goal by then-prime minister Shinzo Abe to grow international tourism. The central government made three licences available in the first round of development.
Wakayama was first to throw its hat in the ring. In 2021, working with the Toronto-based Clairvest Group, it planned a JPY470 billion ($4.3 billion) 569,000-square-metre “floating city” on Wakanoura Bay. US-based Caesars Entertainment was to run the casino. But in 2022, the prefectural assembly nixed the plan 22-18, citing a lack of clarity about the funding.
Three other cities submitted casino bids in Japan: Yokohama, Nagasaki and Osaka. Yokohama bowed out in 2021, after electing an anti-casino mayor. Nagasaki partnered with Casinos Austria in its bid, which was also rejected due to questions about financing.
In the end, the Japanese Diet licensed just one project. MGM Osaka, a massive JPY1.3 trillion complex, is now under construction on Yumeshima Island in Osaka Bay. The IR, a joint venture of US gaming giant MGM Resorts and Japanese developer Orix Corp, is on track to open in 2030.
A fresh start, sans Covid complications
When Japan first legalised casinos, analysts projected annual revenues of up to JPY5.8 trillion (the estimates were eventually adjusted downward to JPY3.6 trillion). But Covid-19 quenched the gold rush and sent most potential investors into lockdown.
It wasn’t until December that the Japan Casino Regulatory Commission indicated it would reopen the application process. It started by appointing a slate of new gaming commissioners.
Chairman Takafumi Sato is a former prosecutor who helped develop the regulatory framework for Japan casinos. Junichi Kakimizu is a former head of the National Tax College. Psychiatrist Michiko Watari was reappointed as commissioner. They all join sitting members Hirofumi Kitamura, a former law enforcement official, and economics professor Keiko Ishikawa.
Local media report that the application process will begin anew in 2026, with any licences to be granted sometime in 2027.