Inside Asian Gaming

IAG JAPAN DEC 2020 82 JAPAN DOUBLE WHAMMY It wasn’t long after Governor Suzuki made this statement that the COVID-19 pandemic and an IR- related scandal took top billings, further delaying Japan’s IR development plans. Of course, these issues are not unique to Hokkaido with every local government battling similar issues. The national government has still been pushing IR development, which they believe is one of the keys to the country’s growth strategy. The grand claims of expected economic effects and increase in tax revenue due to growth in inbound tourism aren’t entirely misleading, but it’s no exaggeration that the COVID-19 pandemic has crushed this major premise. It is no longer Japan’s priority issue. QUIET ACHIEVER Amidst all these distractions, Governor Suzuki has mostly kept quiet on IRs, but broke that silence at a regular press conference on 16 October. At the press conference regarding the national government’s nine- month extension to its Basic Policy, he said, “The prefecture will carefully examine the content of the revised Basic Policy and make broad considerations regarding the possibility of specifying a candidate location, in cooperation with Tomakomai city.” On future plans, he added, “Our position to attempt the creation of an IR unique to Hokkaido has not changed.” This went mostly ignored by those in the industry, but the truth is that Tomakomai city and Hokkaido prefecture never gave up on the idea of pursuing an IR bid in the future and have spent most of 2020 discussing the issues that have been holding them back. The result was a dramatic move at the end of November 2020, almost a year to the date from the regretful 2019 announcement of withdrawal. As reported by Inside Asian Gaming , a “certain understanding” was received from the Hokkaido government regarding the environmental assessment Maintaining the breeding grounds of goshawks has been a key issue in Hokkaido’s IR planning. 北海道IR計画に重要問題の一つがオオタカの繁殖地を維持すること