Wakayama’s governor laments vote against IR plan

Yoshinobu Nisaka, the governor of Japan’s Wakayama prefecture, has described the result as a “bitter blow”.

Japan.- The governor of Japan’s Wakayama prefecture has voiced his disappointment after the Wakayama Prefectural Assembly voted yesterday by 22 votes to 18 to reject plans for a proposed casino resort in the city. The plenary meeting voted against submitting the prefecture’s integrated resort area development plan to the central government.

Yoshinobu Nisaka said the result of the vote was a “bitter blow” and that the integrated resort could have helped the economy by boosting tourism. He said that “economic and employment forces” in the city were currently insufficient. He insisted that strict regulations to prevent gambling addiction had been added to the proposal.

The prefecture’s chosen private sector partner, Clairvest Neem Ventures, intended to raise JPY470bn (US$4.09bn) to invest in the proposed integrated resort, which the prefectural government hoped to open by 2026. However, local authorities had repeatedly raised concerns about the lack of clarity on fundraising.

Nagasaki prefectural assembly approves final IR plan

Meanwhile, Nagasaki Prefectural Government has voted in favour of the final draft of the IR district development plan. The integrated resort proposal must now be submitted to the national government before the April 28 deadline.

The proposed casino resort would be located within the Huis ten Bosch theme park in Sasebo City. The planned cost for the development of the IR is JPY438.3bn (US$3.8bn), including JPY175.3bn in equity costs. Sasebo City Council had already voted to support Nagasaki’s IR district development plan on Friday.