{"id":24527,"date":"2021-11-15T11:08:01","date_gmt":"2021-11-15T14:08:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/?p=24527"},"modified":"2026-04-23T13:49:47","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T16:49:47","slug":"wakayama-citizens-call-for-an-ir-referendum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wakayama-citizens-call-for-an-ir-referendum","title":{"rendered":"Wakayama citizens call for an IR referendum"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

People in Wakayama have collected over 3,000 signatures to demand a referendum on the development of an integrated resort in the city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Japan.- The Wakayama Prefectural Government’s plans to develop an integrated resort are facing an unexpected obstacle due to\u00a0increasing complaints from locals <\/strong>who argue they were never been consulted about whether an IR should be allowed in the city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to ABC TV,\u00a0Wakayama residents are demanding a referendum on the city\u2019s IR bid<\/strong>. A campaign group has delivered a petition that reached\u00a0more than 3,000 signatures. <\/strong>The organisers hope to reach 20,000 signatures\u00a0<\/strong>by December 5.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A similar movement happened in\u00a0Yokohama<\/a>, where over 200,000 people demanded a referendum.\u00a0Takeharu Yamanaka<\/a>, Yokohama\u2019s newly mayor, finally cancelled the city\u2019s IR plans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Wakayama, the government has approved\u00a0Clairvest Neem Ventures\u2019 consortium<\/a>\u00a0as its partner for the\u00a0planned integrated resort<\/strong>.\u00a0The initial investment will be JPY470bn (US$4.3bn). The Wakayama Prefectural Government hopes to\u00a0open an integrated resort by 2026<\/strong>. It must submit its area development plan to the national government for approval by April 28, 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wakayama Prefectural Government<\/a>\u00a0will hold a\u00a0public consultation\u00a0<\/strong>to take feedback from members of the public, city authorities, and the prefectural assembly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The public consultation will comprise 14 meetings held from November 25 to December 5<\/strong> before the prefecture submits an updated development plan by the end of December. Clairvest Neem Ventures will have to show its ability to raise assets for the IR development.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

People in Wakayama have collected over 3,000 signatures to demand a referendum on the development of an integrated resort in the city.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":176,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"The Wakayama Prefectural Government's integrated resort development, partnered with Clairvest Neem Ventures, faces significant local opposition, with residents demanding a referendum. This public sentiment, reminiscent of the Yokohama IR cancellation, introduces substantial regulatory and political risk to the JPY470bn project. The opposition could jeopardize the 2026 target opening and the national government's approval process.","focusai_entities":"Wakayama Prefectural Government, ABC TV, Takeharu Yamanaka, Clairvest Neem Ventures","focusai_location":"Japan, Wakayama, Yokohama","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.9), regulator (0.95), compliance_legal (0.75), operator_casino (0.9), investor_analyst (0.95), supplier_vendor (0.7), journalist_researcher (0.9)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"IR Project Viability","query":"What specific governance frameworks and public engagement strategies can the Wakayama Prefectural Government implement to mitigate local opposition and secure the social license required for the JPY470bn integrated resort project's long-term viability?"},{"label":"Capital Markets Impact","query":"How will the increasing local opposition and demand for a referendum in Wakayama impact Clairvest Neem Ventures' ability to raise the necessary JPY470bn capital, and what are the implications for investor confidence in Japan's nascent IR market?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[16338,156,158],"tags":[23632],"class_list":["post-24527","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-east-asia-news","category-regulation-news","category-slider-home","tag-integrated-resorts"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24527","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/176"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24527"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24527\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24549,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24527\/revisions\/24549"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24527"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24527"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24527"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}