Shizuoka City has effectively been shut out of the race to host one of Japan’s first three integrated resorts. Its hopes ended April 7 with the defeat of Pro-IR mayoral candidate Shingo Amano. Amano lost to incumbent Nobuhiro Tanabe, who won a second term.
But Amano’s loss could open the door to an IR Makinohara city, in the same prefecture, which has been active in pursuing an IR bid, reported GGRAsia.
A next round of elections on April 21—including a mayoral contest in Sasebo and city council races in Sasebo, Wakayama and Tomakomai—will also spotlight the IR issue.
According to Asia Gaming Brief, the 2018 IR Implementation Act does not require city councils to support any bid, but councils are expected to have a hand in the decisions and have a big say in the outcome. In Sasebo, 44 candidates are running for 33 available city council seats.
There may be a built-in obstacle in Wakayama, as Mayor Masahiro Obana believes any casino built at Marina City should serve foreigners only, a policy that contradicts that of the prefectural government.
In Hokkaido, meanwhile, Tourism Organization Chairman Yoshihiro Sekihachi recently told the Nihon Keizai Shinbun that he supports an IR as a way to boost tourism and build the local economy. To ease widespread fears about problem gambling and other social repercussions, he has called for efforts to provide a “correct understanding” about IRs to the general public.
