{"id":777042156,"date":"2026-05-13T14:08:59","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T17:08:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/?p=777042156"},"modified":"2026-05-14T06:25:03","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T09:25:03","slug":"mgm-osaka-appoints-new-chairman-as-ir-construction-advances","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/mgm-osaka-appoints-new-chairman-as-ir-construction-advances","title":{"rendered":"MGM Osaka appoints new chairman as IR construction advances"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The leadership reshuffle comes as Japan\u2019s first approved integrated resort project continues to progress towards its planned 2030 opening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Japan.- MGM Resorts International and Orix Corporation<\/strong> have announced changes to the senior leadership of MGM Osaka Corp<\/strong>, the joint venture behind Japan\u2019s first approved integrated resort with a casino. Nobuki Watanabe<\/strong>, currently a managing executive officer at Orix, has been selected as representative director and chairman effective May 1. He succeeds Toyonori Takahashi<\/strong>, who has stepped down but will remain an advisor to Orix.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Watanabe joined Orix in 2001 and has worked across corporate management and new business development divisions. Meanwhile, Edward Bowers <\/strong>has been reappointed as representative director and president of the company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The appointments follow MGM Osaka Corp\u2019s transition to a formal board structure. According to Japanese media outlet Sankei Shimbun, it now operates with a five-member board. Alongside Watanabe and Bowers, the board includes Bill Hornbuckle, Hidetake Takahashi<\/strong>, chief executive of Orix, and Shuuji Irie<\/strong>, senior managing executive officer at Orix. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Construction remains on track for 2030 opening<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Osaka IR project, valued at JPY 1.51tn (US$ 9.66bn)<\/strong>, is currently under construction on Yumeshima Island in Osaka prefecture. MGM Resorts and Orix each hold a 40 per cent stake in the development, alongside several local investors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking during MGM Resorts\u2019 first-quarter earnings call last month, Hornbuckle said construction milestones continued to be reached at the site for its planned 2030 launch. He also reiterated MGM\u2019s long-term expectations for the Japanese market, noting the company anticipated becoming the country\u2019s sole licensed casino operator upon opening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, while the Osaka project was the only integrated resort approved during round of applications, Japan\u2019s government is preparing to open a second round of integrated resort (IR) applications. A cabinet order issued in March set the application window for new IR district development plans from May to November 2027. <\/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> MGM China expands premium gaming in Cotai<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The leadership reshuffle comes as Japan\u2019s first approved integrated resort project continues to progress towards its planned 2030 opening.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2384,"featured_media":16744,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"","focusai_entities":"","focusai_location":"","focusai_target_profile":"","focusai_suggestions":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[28,16338],"tags":[23632,16615,25253],"class_list":["post-777042156","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-casino-news","category-east-asia-news","tag-integrated-resorts","tag-mgm-resorts","tag-orix-corporation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777042156","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\/2384"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=777042156"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777042156\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":777042162,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777042156\/revisions\/777042162"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16744"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=777042156"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=777042156"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=777042156"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}