{"id":777032389,"date":"2025-09-30T10:32:44","date_gmt":"2025-09-30T13:32:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/?p=777032389"},"modified":"2026-04-21T18:40:21","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T21:40:21","slug":"the-two-frontrunners-to-host-a-casino-in-hokkaido","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/the-two-frontrunners-to-host-a-casino-in-hokkaido","title":{"rendered":"The two possible contenders to host a casino in Hokkaido"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Tomakomai and Kushiro remain interested.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Japan.- As we already reported, Hokkaido is again interested in hosting a casino resort if Japan’s central government opens a new bidding round. There are two main possible locations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tomakomai<\/strong>, a port city south of New Chitose Airport, has reaffirmed its ambition to pursue an IR licence<\/a>. Mayor Suguru Kanazawa<\/strong> stressed the city\u2019s infrastructure advantages and proximity to international transport, arguing that a resort could boost inbound tourism and private investment. Tomakomai previously advanced a proposal backed by Hard Rock International in 2019, but the bid was abandoned amid environmental concerns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kushiro<\/strong>, in eastern Hokkaido, has also expressed interest. Mayor Hidenori Tsuruma <\/strong>has highlighted the potential of Lake Akan and pointed to international examples of Indigenous involvement in gaming ventures, suggesting that local Ainu communities could be included in the project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hakodate appears to be out. Mayor Jun Oizumi<\/strong> has stated that it is \u201cin no position\u201d to pursue a casino bid at this stage<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The renewed discussions come as Japan\u2019s first IR project, the US$8.9bn MGM Osaka, advances toward its planned 2030 opening<\/a>. The central government originally envisioned up to three IR sites, but only Osaka was approved in the initial round of applications. Any Hokkaido proposal would require municipal approval, endorsement by the governor and central government approval, but no new application window has been announced so far.<\/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> Hakodate rules out bidding to host Hokkaido casino resort<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tomakomai and Kushiro remain interested.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":680,"featured_media":777032396,"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 municipalities, specifically Tomakomai and Kushiro, are re-evaluating bids for an Integrated Resort (IR) license in Japan, contingent on a new central government application round. Tomakomai highlights infrastructure and tourism potential, while Kushiro emphasizes Indigenous community involvement. This renewed interest follows the singular approval of MGM Osaka and signals potential expansion within Japan's nascent IR market.","focusai_entities":"Hard Rock International, MGM Osaka, Suguru Kanazawa, Hidenori Tsuruma, Jun Oizumi, Ainu communities","focusai_location":"Japan, Hokkaido, Tomakomai, Kushiro, Hakodate, Osaka","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.9), regulator (0.9), compliance_legal (0.7), operator_casino (0.95), investor_analyst (0.9), supplier_vendor (0.8), journalist_researcher (0.9)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"New IR Bidding Round?","query":"What specific criteria or market conditions would prompt the Japanese central government to initiate a new Integrated Resort bidding round, and what is the projected timeline for such an announcement?"},{"label":"Hokkaido IR Feasibility?","query":"Given past environmental concerns and the singular approval of MGM Osaka, what are the key financial, regulatory, and social governance hurdles a Hokkaido IR proposal would need to overcome to secure central government endorsement?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[28,16338,24628,158],"tags":[14017,470],"class_list":["post-777032389","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-casino-news","category-east-asia-news","category-highlight-of-the-week","category-slider-home","tag-integrated-resort","tag-japan"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777032389","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\/680"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=777032389"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777032389\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":777032428,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777032389\/revisions\/777032428"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/777032396"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=777032389"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=777032389"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=777032389"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}