Japan National IR opening postponed beyond 2025
Plans to open the first integrated casino resort in Japan failed after being officially announced at a joint subcommittee meeting that shifted the original date of 2025 to the latter half of the 1920s.
Opening of the IR casino delayed until the end of 2020
The Japanese government has admitted that it will not be able to launch its first IR casino until the end 2025, After an earlier announcement that postponed the application period for local councils, which was due to start in January 2021 But now it will run in October. 2021, delay 9 months.
Japanese Tourism Agency saw a significant drop in the number of visitors arriving in the country since the coronavirus outbreak, and local governments deploying efforts and resources to combat the further spread of infection, coupled with global travel restrictions, forced a revision Basic policy design in October.
The new policy included additional health and safety measures and cleaning and decontamination requirements to tackle the problem of casinos facilitating the spread of infectious viral diseases. In addition, the revised draft stipulated that operators should implement measures to protect against the hazards of gambling to address the increased vulnerability of prefectures to gambling addiction.
The Japanese government is expected to evaluate and adopt the revised policy by the end of the year, a decision that will affect Request for Proposal (RFP) at least 4 prefectures that have so far expressed a strong interest in competing for one of the three IR casino slots available nationwide.
Potential Candidates
Nagasaki Prefecture announced its intention to participate in the national IR tiltie proposing an IR casino in the amusement park area Huis Ten Bosch. Prefectural officials recently expressed their openness to further interest from the private sector ahead of the official launch of an RFP to add up to 4 strong candidates to work with local government.
Osaka and its project Yumeshima IR, after delays and delays, took a sharp turn after a referendum vote rejected proposals for administrative reorganization and prompted Osaka Mayor Ichiro Matsui to announce his intention to withdraw from politics at the end of his term of office. Although this did not directly affect the IR plans, a negative vote influenced the leaders and champions behind the IR motion, casting further doubts about the future of the project.
Japanese prefecture Wakayama announced in May that it would delay the RFP process to move the initial application deadline of applicants to August 31 to October 19 as the prefecture was hit by a state of emergency that limited domestic travel and business activities. In November, Wakayama announced that it would extend the planned opening of an IR casino on an artificial island Wakayama Marina City by one year, by spring 2026.
Fourth candidate, Yokohama, also failed after a group of residents filed a petition backed by 200,000 signatures, asking for a referendum on the IR bid, prompting Yokohama Mayor Fumiko Hayashi to express public concerns and concerns about the implementation of the IR project in the region.