Fumio Kishida, who will assume as Japan’s next prime minister on October 4, is a supporter of the country’s casino resort policy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Japan.- The election of Fumio Kishida as\u00a0the next prime minister of Japan has been well received by the gaming industry<\/strong>\u00a0as he has expressed his support for the development of integrated resorts in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kishida has previously served as foreign minister, and during his tenure, he visited Singapore’s two integrated resorts.\u00a0Japan\u2019s Integrated Resorts Implementation Act<\/strong>, which allows for an initial three IRs\u00a0<\/strong>was\u00a0implemented on July 19<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The\u00a0Implementation Act<\/a>\u00a0includes\u00a0gross gaming revenue (GGR) calculation<\/strong>, internal controls for casino operations and\u00a0verification of casino employees<\/strong>, among other rules. There are currently\u00a0three cities expected to bid for the three licences:\u00a0<\/strong>Nagasaki, Osaka and Wakayama.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Takeharu Yamanaka, Yokohama\u2019s newly mayor, has cancelled the\u00a0city\u2019s IR plans.<\/a> Melco Resorts & Entertainment and\u00a0Genting Singapore<\/a>\u00a0were the two remaining candidates to be Yokohama\u2019s partner for its bid.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n In June, analysts suggested that Yokohama\u2019s possible withdrawal from the IR contest could leave the door open for Tokyo to bid for an integrated resort licence<\/a>. However, a survey by a local newspaper found that 66 per cent in Tokyo are against an IR development<\/strong> and only 24 per cent are in favour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Nagasaki Prefectural Government has selected\u00a0Casinos Austria International<\/a>\u00a0as its partner for its IR bid. The government<\/a>\u00a0has revealed it expects its proposed\u00a0integrated resort to generate annual gross gaming revenue (GGR) of JPY150bn (US$1.37bn)<\/strong>. It\u2019s also said that it expects that seven out of every 10 visitors will be from Japan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In Wakayama<\/a>, Clairvest<\/strong> Neem Ventures <\/strong>has presented its integrated resort plans to the Wakayama Prefectural Government. In June, authorities accepted Clairvest<\/a> as its IR partner after Suncity Group<\/a>, the only other contender, withdrew from the process due to uncertainty caused by the impact of the Covid-19 <\/strong>pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\nJapan\u2019s current IR bids status<\/h2>\n\n\n\n