For more than two years, Yokohama Mayor Fumiko Hayashi has stayed on the fence regarding an integrated resort (IR) with casino in the Japanese city. Now, facing an economic meltdown, she’s reversed course, and is pressing for the city’s IR bid to go forward.
“I’ve decided upon an IR bid due to my sense of crisis about Yokohama’s future,” the mayor said at a city council meeting on September 3. “It’s a big national project which could become a driving force for tourism and the regional economy in Yokohama.” She submitted a revised budget to council including 260 million yen (about US$2.5 million) for IR-related expenses.
In the past, Hayashi repeatedly said she was a “blank slate” on IR development. According to Inside Asian Gaming, some Japanese media outlets contend that that Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga is “the real string-puller behind Mayor Hayashi’s transformation.” Suga will succeed outgoing Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who is resigning for health reasons. Suga gas said he supports IRs as a way to boost inbound tourism, and would proceed with it, if he got the top job.
But polls show clearly that the general public prefers his rival Shigeru Ishiba by a wide margin; if he expects to win in a general election in October 2021, Suga may have to soft-pedal his support for IRs, which have never won wide support among the public, chiefly because of concerns about gambling addiction.
Their opposition has only increased with the most recent arrest—the fourth—of former Japanese lawmaker Tsukasa Akimoto, on corruption charges related to the IR industry. The onetime House of Representatives member, formerly a cabinet office deputy minister in charge of IRs, was first arrested for corruption in December 2019 and again in January 2020.
According to Asia Gaming Brief, the Akimoto case has “hardened public opposition against the initiative (because) the majority of Japanese people … see casino legalization as a likely source for organized crime, corruption, gambling addiction, and other social maladies.”
Some major casino brands have already pulled out of contention for Yokohama. On August 4, Matt Maddox, CEO of Wynn Resorts, said the firm was “pretty much ceasing” its efforts to win an IR license in Japan.
But Lawrence Ho, chairman and CEO of Macau casino operator Melco Resorts and Entertainment Ltd., said on August 20 that Melco has an “unwavering commitment” to a Japan license. In September last year, the firm described Yokohama as a priority target.
Yokohama expects a fiscal 2021 budget deficit of JPY46 billion (US$433 million) compared to the initial budget for fiscal 2020. The deputy mayor, Toshihide Hirahara, said the budget for next year represents a “crisis situation in times that are not normal.”
Mayor Hayashi explained at her regular press conference last week, “We will not stop all services, but we will cut back on extraneous costs in necessary items as we formulate the budget.”
A survey by the Mainichi Shinbun found that none of the city council’s caucuses was prepared to immediately accept the mayor’s revised budget, and some were already announcing opposition to the IR-related budget.
Local governments that want to host a casino resort must first find a private-sector partner, then apply to the central government for permission. Up to three IRs are to be permitted in a first phase of casino liberalization in Japan.
In related news, two anti-IR citizens’ group are preparing to launch petition drives, hoping to keep a development out of their community. They’re demanding a referendum over the city’s IR development plans.
Another IR contender, Nagasaki, has announced that it will suspend its operator recruitment process regarding development of an integrated resort due to ongoing delays in release of the national government’s Basic Policy for IRs and Abe’s resignation.
Governor Hodo Nakamura and Mayor Norio Tomonaga released a statement saying, “We will consider the overall trend for the country and operator opinions to determine an appropriate time for the recruitment.”
Mayor Tomonaga of Sasebo City added, “The situation is chaotic because of the prime minister’s resignation. I would like to start as soon as the situation allows.” Three operators—Oshidori International Holdings, Casinos Austria and the Current Corp.—have stated their intention to participate in Nagasaki’s RFP.
