Northeast Japan seeks casino to help earthquake recovery

The northeastern region of Japan hardest hit by an earthquake and tsunami in 2011 is seeking to attract casino investment once lawmakers pass legislation, Reuters reports.
Officials in the Miyagi area are not openly calling for expressions of interest at present as they are concerned casinos would be seen as exploiting victims of the disaster, in which about 11,000 people from the area were killed or went missing.
Two-thirds of the 59 assemblymen in Miyagi back the plan for a casino there, the report said.
“With a casino, we can increase the number of people coming and going,” Takayoshi Konno, 74, an assemblyman who belongs to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party, was cited as saying.
The officials are hoping for an integrated resort near Sendai airport, it said. They will campaign openly once the legislation is passed.
Japanese lawmakers are now expected to begin debating the casino bill next month after repeated delays on concern from opposition politicians over the potential impact on problem gambling and organized crime.
The bill is backed by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who sees it as a cornerstone of his ambitions to boost tourism arrivals. However, the resignation of two of his cabinet ministers this month amid scandals may have complicated the situation.
The delays have jeopardized the ability of casino operators to have an integrated resort up and running in Japan in time to capitalize on an expected influx of tourists for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.