Inside Asian Gaming

IAG JAPAN JUN 2019 32 “It is impossible to open before 2025. The reason is not that Osaka isn’t doing everything it can but there are several regulatory processes that need to be signed before they can even start, so time is very much against them.” – Praveen Choudhary 「2025年より前にオープンさせるのは不可能だ。 その理由は大阪ができる限りの努力をしていない ということではなく、スタート前でさえも署名が必 要な規制上の手続きがいくつかあるからだ。従っ て時間的に非常に不利な状況だ」 JAPAN O n 22 May, Japan’s national government announced it was postponing the publication of its fundamental policy on the establishment of integrated resorts until after the summer upper house election. The news didn’t come as a complete surprise, with strong whispers of such a delay having done the rounds at the Japan Gaming Congress (JgC) in Tokyo just a few weeks earlier. However, it did confirm what many had feared – the road to develop Japan’s first IRs is still littered with potholes. Also delayed is the establishment of Japan’s casino regulatory body, the Casino Administration Committee, which had originally been set for 1 July 2019 but will now have to wait until the autumn extraordinary Diet session, running from September to December. All of which puts the long-held consensus that Japan will welcome its first IRs by 2025 in serious doubt, not to mention the rather ambitions 2024 launch date touted by officials in Osaka. While MGM Resorts Japan CEO Ed Bowers has maintained a positive outlook in the weeks since – telling