Wakayama IR Experts Committee holds first meeting

Wednesday 7th of August 2019

The Wakayama IR Experts Committee under the chairmanship of Tokyo University Professor Emeritus Motoshige Ito held its first meeting on Tuesday, launching a new phase in the prefecture’s campaign to bring an IR to the Marina City location.

Chairman Ito explained after the meeting that “there was discussion about what could be done from experts in psychology and food culture, and also quite a bit of talk about other subjects such as tourism.”

Wakayama Governor Yoshinobu Nisaka, the main promoter of the prefecture’s IR bid, also attended the meeting.

While the Wakayama IR bid has sufficient local political support to go forward, the remaining concern is Wakayama Mayor Masahiro Obana’s view that the casino should be limited to foreign visitors. This is a position not likely be accepted by international IR operators, and which contradicts the plans of the prefectural government.

The other seven members of the committee are former Kansai Electric Power Company Chairman Shosuke Mori, Greenberg Traurig Tokyo Office Managing Partner Koji Ishikawa, Washoku Japan Director Yoko Okubo, Japan Travel and Tourism Association Chairman Shigeto Kubo, Kyoto University School of Government Honorary Fellow Hidetaka Saeki, Construction Industry Engineers Center Chairman Hiroaki Taniguchi, and Kyoto University Kokoro Research Center Professor Sakiko Yoshikawa.