The race isn’t over yet, but it’s coming to the finish line. Last week, the government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe put the final touches on a bill that would establish the policies and regulations surrounding a legal casino industry in Japan. Although the Diet, the Japanese legislature, already passed a bill in 2016 that legalized gaming, a second bill is necessary to outline the policies, procedures and regulations of implementing legal casinos.
The second bill will now be submitted to the Diet for a vote. Although Abe’s party and its allies control the Diet, there is still no assurance that the measure will pass. The Japanese public remains opposed to gambling by a significant margin, concerned that it will increase corruption and problem gambling. Abe’s administration is also fighting off several potential scandals that could impact the vote. The Diet has until June 20 to pass the bill.
Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party and its partner Komeito hold 150 seats in the 242-member House of Councillors and 312 of the House of Representatives 465-seat chamber.
“We will promote tourism with visitors from all over the world spending days (at the casino resorts), while taking complete measures to address various concerns including gambling addiction,” Abe told a cabinet meeting last week.
If the bill passes, Osaka officials believe casinos could be up and running in their city by 2023.
Applicants will be required to submit business plans for their proposed integrated resorts, along with programs to stem problem gambling. Gaming companies would have to get approval and partner with local jurisdictions and then receive a certification from the tourism minister to be considered for one of the gaming licenses.
Up to three locations will be approved initially for IRs, but no one location is mentioned. More locations could be after seven years from the first IR licensing, depending upon the success of the original IRs.
Gaming revenue will be taxed at 30 percent, and casinos can only occupy 3 percent of the floor space of the integrated resort.
Japanese citizens will pay 6,000 yet ($55) to enter a casino, but will be restricted to no more than three visits per week or 10 visits per month. There will be no fee or visit restrictions for foreigners.
Multiple global gaming operators are expected to vie for one of the first integrated resort licenses in Japan. But Lawrence Ho’s Melco Resorts & Entertainment may be leading the pack, according to the Motley Fool.
Like Melco, both the Las Vegas Sands Corp. and MGM Resorts International have said it is willing to spend $10 billion or more to build an integrated resort in Japan. Melco may have one-upped the competition when it said it could relocate its corporate headquarters to Japan if its bid is successful.
But another reason Melco may stand front, the Fool reported, is a new security system, MelGuard, that could help Japan achieve its goal to curb compulsive gambling among locals.
Under the system, Japanese gamblers would be issued an identity card to be shown at every casino visit. MelGuard would verify the identity of visitors electronically through fingerprints and facial recognition technology before they could enter the casino. Melco reportedly would give the government unlimited access to all data collected by the security system.
