Archive

_2020-09-25
If it can be said that Yoshihide Suga’s emergence as prime minister of Japan is something of a poisoned chalice for Yokohama’s IR bid, for the leaders of Osaka, it is, in contrast, both uncomplicated and quite beneficial.

_2020-09-11
“The casino issue is symbolic of the clear confrontational axis between top-down politics and grassroots politics… We cannot let matters continue as they have under the Abe administration.” So declared Leader of the Opposition Yukio Edano on Wednesday...

_2020-09-04
The emergence of Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga as the all-but-certain next prime minister of Japan is good news for Japan’s pro-IR community. However, even with a solid friend in the Kantei, there’s plenty of reason to believe that the government...

_2020-08-07
A year ago there were many things uncertain about IR development in Japan, but if there was one thing you could depend upon—one prediction that could be made with near total confidence—it was that the man-made island of Yumeshima in Osaka Bay was...

_2020-07-03
It has often been suggested that Japanese local communities will become more understanding of IR development projects once their nature is better expl

_2020-06-26
In the summer of 2017, Fumiko Hayashi won reelection as mayor of Yokohama claiming to be a “blank slate” but in reality favoring IR development in her city. Anti-casino activists believe that history may be repeating itself; this time with Governor...

_2020-06-12
All of the candidate locations seeking IR development are facing local citizen protests of one sort or another, but the one that really deserves attention is the recall campaign against Yokohama Mayor Fumiko Hayashi.

_2020-02-21
Japan has seen numerous twists and turns in its bid to establish an integrated resort industry, though perhaps one of the most unwelcome was the arrest of a deputy minister at the centre of a money-for-favours scandal surrounding IR development plans...

_2020-02-16
Never a popular policy in the first place, the recent casino bribery scandal has lowered Japanese public support for the construction of domestic IRs

_2020-01-13
Public opinion polls taken in the wake of the 500 Dot Com bribery scandal agree that a large majority of the Japanese people want the government to reconsider its policy of casino legalization.

_2019-11-22
It was considered a foregone conclusion in gaming circles that Osaka will be a venue for one of the first three integrated resorts in Japan, though the entry of Yokohama into the race and shifting political sands highlight the fact that nothing should...

_2019-10-18
Japan’s public continues to be firmly opposed to IRs, with a new survey finding 60 percent are hostile on concern that public security will deteriorate. 

_2019-10-15
The number of American adults with a favorable view of the gaming industry has gained 4 percentage points from last year to a record.

_2019-10-08
Political parties and citizens opposed to an IR bid at Yamashita Pier are launching movements both to recall Fumiko Hayashi as mayor of Yokohama as well as to subject any casino construction plans to a popular referendum.

_2019-10-03
Hokkaido Governor Naomichi Suzuki, who has been taking a go-slow approach on his decision whether or not to pursue an IR bid for the Tomakomai location, has now clearly indicated for the first time that he will hand down his verdict by the end of this...

_2019-10-02
Fukuoka Mayor Soichiro Takashima has quickly responded to the Junior Chamber International Fukuoka’s proposal for an IR bid from his city. The answer was clear—“not at this time.”

_2019-08-04
Hokkaido Governor Naomichi Suzuki is now expected to delay until early 2020 his final decision on whether or not to go forward with an IR bid.

_2019-07-01
Yokohama Mayor Fumiko Hayashi is facing renewed indications that the plan to build a major IR at Yamashita Pier will face fierce political opposition both from a significant portion of the business community and a majority of the population.

_2019-06-18
Makinohara Mayor Kikuo Sugimoto has told his city council that local residents near the Oyori area have offered no objections to the plans to make an IR bid after the concept was explained to them.