A team of opposition lawmakers opposed to casino legalization toured Yamashita Pier, the proposed location for the Yokohama IR.
“As can be seen in the spread of the corruption cases, if there are casinos in Japan, it will lead to harm. Creating the casinos themselves would be taking a gamble,” declared Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan lawmaker Hiroshi Ogushi, who is leading the opposition parliamentary charge against the 500 Dot Com bribery case.
Aside from their tour of Yamashita Pier, the opposition lawmakers also received a briefing from an executive of the Yokohama Harbor Transport Association on its plan to redevelop the site without a casino, with the emphasis on the notion that considerable tax revenues can be generated without the harms associated with gambling.
Yokohama Mayor Fumiko Hayashi acknowledged public concerns, but declared that “the city will not significantly change its policy” on IR development.
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