{"id":777030750,"date":"2025-08-25T08:23:09","date_gmt":"2025-08-25T11:23:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/?p=777030750"},"modified":"2026-04-21T19:50:45","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T22:50:45","slug":"hokkaido-launches-survey-on-casino-plans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/hokkaido-launches-survey-on-casino-plans","title":{"rendered":"Hokkaido launches survey on casino plans"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The prefecture may apply for one of two possible new casino licences in Japan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Japan.- Hokkaido prefecture has launched a survey of all 179 municipalities on the possibility of hosting an integrated resort (IR)<\/a> with a casino. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2019, Hokkaido chose not to participate in Japan\u2019s initial round of IR bidding, mainly due to environmental concerns, but Suguru Kanazawa, the mayor of Tomakomai, announced in February plans to revive the city\u2019s bid<\/a> in any future round. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Japan\u2019s northernmost prefecture has seen a number of meetings explore the topic since. In June, the Hokkaido Economic Federation expressed support<\/a>. 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.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The only IR project approved in Japan for now is MGM Osaka on Yumeshima island. The development is a joint venture<\/a> between the Orix Group, MGM Resorts International and several smaller-scale Japanese investors. It\u2019s been reported the the central government may open new applications for two more IR licences<\/a>, potentially reviving its initial plan to approve three developments, in time for the permits to be awarded by the end of 2027. <\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"MGM
MGM Osaka.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n


<\/p>\n\n\n

\n\t\t\tSee also:<\/span><\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\tSee also:<\/span> Japan Tourism Agency says MGM Osaka advancing as planned<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The prefecture may apply for one of two possible new casino licences in Japan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":226,"featured_media":17674,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"Hokkaido Prefecture is re-evaluating a bid for one of Japan's potential new integrated resort (IR) licenses, with Tomakomai city actively pursuing the opportunity despite prior environmental concerns. This development coincides with reports that the central government may issue two additional IR licenses by late 2027, expanding on the single approved MGM Osaka project.","focusai_entities":"Hokkaido prefecture, Tomakomai, Suguru Kanazawa, Hokkaido Economic Federation, Yutaka Fujii, Hokkaido Electric Power Co, MGM Osaka, Orix Group, MGM Resorts International","focusai_location":"Japan, Hokkaido, Tomakomai, Osaka, Yumeshima island, New Chitose Airport","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.9), regulator (0.9), compliance_legal (0.8), operator_casino (0.9), investor_analyst (0.9), supplier_vendor (0.8), journalist_researcher (0.9)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"Environmental Mitigation Plans","query":"What specific environmental impact mitigation strategies are being proposed by Tomakomai and Hokkaido Prefecture to address prior concerns and secure central government approval for an IR license?"},{"label":"New License Criteria","query":"What are the anticipated specific criteria and timeline for the central government's potential issuance of two additional IR licenses, and how might these differ from the initial round?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[28,16338],"tags":[29,470],"class_list":["post-777030750","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-casino-news","category-east-asia-news","tag-casino","tag-japan"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777030750","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\/226"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=777030750"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777030750\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":777030787,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777030750\/revisions\/777030787"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17674"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=777030750"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=777030750"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=777030750"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}