“Giving up for now”
The 30-member team in charge of Japan’s casino bill will be dismantled, according to the Asia Gaming Brief. Citing Japanese media outlets in its report, AGB said the dissolution of the team, made up of officials from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, could mean the government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe “has given up on the idea of casinos for now, and is not likely to prepare a renewed push anytime soon.”
Abe hoped to legalize casinos as part of his Abenomics economy strategy. Despite his support, the legislature was slow to act on legal gaming; repeated delays quashed hopes that a casino resort could be open in time for the 2020 Olympic Games.
“Given the expected lengthy discussion period for the follow-on Implementation IR bill, tender and construction processes, our early best-case scenario is for the Japanese casinos to begin operations well after the 2020 Japan Olympics, possibly 2022,” CIMB analysts Michael Ting and Jensen Poon said last July.
Most of the pushback on casinos came from Komeito, Japan’s Nichiren Buddhist-backed political party also known as the “Clean Government Party.” Abe recently urged Komeito leader Natsuo Yamaguchi to endorse the bill in the next session.
