{"id":777027777,"date":"2025-06-13T09:14:37","date_gmt":"2025-06-13T12:14:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/?p=777027777"},"modified":"2026-04-21T21:54:47","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T00:54:47","slug":"hokkaido-economic-federation-supports-plans-for-new-casino","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/hokkaido-economic-federation-supports-plans-for-new-casino","title":{"rendered":"Hokkaido Economic Federation supports casino plans"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The group said an integrated resort would boost tourism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p>Japan.- The Hokkaido Economic Federation has expressed support for an integrated resort (IR) with casino in the region. At a press conference after a ceremony to mark the body\u2019s 50th anniversary, it said thedevelopment would bring economic benefits<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yutaka Fujii, chairperson of the Hokkaido Economic Federation, and chairperson of Hokkaido Electric Power Co, was cited by media as saying: \u201cHaving an IR is an effective way to improve the value of Hokkaido tourism and a great opportunity for the Hokkaido business community. The Hokkaido Economic Federation is going to have study meetings with other economic groups in Hokkaido.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Suguru Kanazawa, the mayor of Tomakomai in Hokkaido prefecture, announced in February plans to revive the city\u2019s bid to host an IR with a casino. Kanazawa said the city was restructuring its IR promotion initiatives and working with the central government and Hokkaido Prefecture to attract private investment to the area around New Chitose Airport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In November 2019, Hokkaido chose not to participate in Japan\u2019s initial IR application phase, mainly due to environmental concerns. However, authorities in Tomakomai remained interested in the possibility of hosting a resort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The only IR project approved in Japan for now is MGM Osaka on Yumeshima island. The development is a <a href=\"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/osaka-announces-mgm-orix-as-ir-partner\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">joint venture<\/a> between the Orix Group, MGM Resorts International and several smaller-scale Japanese investors. It&#8217;s been reported the the central government may open <a href=\"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/japan-may-open-bidding-for-two-new-ir-licences\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">new applications for two more IR licences<\/a>, potentially reviving its initial plan to approve three developments. It\u2019s reported that two more permits could be awarded by the end of 2027.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n<div id=\"see-also-container\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"see-also-label\">See also:<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"related-article\">\n\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"related-article__thumbnail\" src=\"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2021\/08\/Cambodia-Casinos-in-Phnom-Penh-to-remain-closed-until-August-26-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\"><\/p>\n<p class=\"related-article__text\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"see-also-label-strong\">See also:<\/span> <a href='https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/?p=777027777'>Hokkaido Economic Federation supports plans for new casino<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The group said an integrated resort would boost tourism.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":218,"featured_media":19199,"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 Hokkaido Economic Federation has formally endorsed the development of an Integrated Resort (IR) with a casino in Hokkaido, citing significant economic and tourism benefits. This renewed regional interest, particularly from Tomakomai, emerges as the central government reportedly considers opening applications for two additional IR licenses beyond the approved MGM Osaka project. The move signals a potential expansion of Japan's nascent IR market, despite previous environmental concerns in Hokkaido.","focusai_entities":"Hokkaido Economic Federation, Yutaka Fujii, Hokkaido Electric Power Co, Suguru Kanazawa, MGM Osaka, Orix Group, MGM Resorts International","focusai_location":"Japan, Hokkaido, Tomakomai, Osaka, Yumeshima, New Chitose Airport","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.9), regulator (0.9), compliance_legal (0.7), operator_casino (0.9), investor_analyst (0.9), supplier_vendor (0.8), journalist_researcher (0.9)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"Hokkaido IR Feasibility?","query":"Given Hokkaido's prior withdrawal due to environmental concerns, what specific governance frameworks and mitigation strategies are being proposed to address these issues in a renewed IR bid?"},{"label":"New IR License Impact?","query":"How would the potential awarding of two additional IR licenses by 2027 impact the competitive landscape and projected GGR for the existing MGM Osaka project, and what are the implications for capital allocation by prospective operators?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[28,16338],"tags":[23632,23907],"class_list":["post-777027777","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-casino-news","category-east-asia-news","tag-integrated-resorts","tag-land-based-casino"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777027777","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\/218"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=777027777"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777027777\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":777027793,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777027777\/revisions\/777027793"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19199"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=777027777"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=777027777"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=777027777"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}