Casino ID in Japan could alienate customers

An LDP lawmaker expressed his concerns over the possibility of including casino ID checks, as the measure could discourage gamblers.

Japan.- Takeshi Iwaya, a Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) lawmaker, has expressed his opposition to a measure that proposes that residents must present their IDs if they want to enter gambling facilities, as he believes that it could alienate them.

“It’s important to make sure access doesn’t become extremely restricted. These will be leisure and entertainment facilities, so they must be friendly to customers and we mustn’t go too far,” he said, as reported by Bloomberg, and suggested that passports and drivers’ licenses could be a good alternative way of controlling the Japan industry and not go overboard. “Even if we use [My Number cards], we must avoid any data leaks or having people’s activities monitored by the government. If enjoying gambling is treated as a bad thing, the integrated resorts won’t be a success.”

Earlier this week it was reported that the Tomakomai government is targetting IR operators to work with them in order to compile the “Tomakomai IR Master Plan” by the end of next March. The city will survey the intentions of companies regarding potential investment in Tomakomai and will hold an “explanation meeting” in Tokyo on July 21. City officials have projected at least ten major operators to attend the inaugural meeting and are willing to consider bids from single projects as well as from consortiums.