Abe ally vows casino push after report that bill faces delay

Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe

Japan’s parliament should resume stalled debates to legalize casinos, lest delays interfere with local government planning for the gambling resorts’ proposals, the head of a pro-casino lawmakers group said.
Takeshi Iwaya, secretary general of a legislator’s group backing the resorts, told reporters in Tokyo yesterday he would ensure progress on the bill in the current Diet session. Shares of gaming-related companies gained in Tokyo trading yesterday.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has said adding gambling resorts would boost the economy by luring tourists and spurring spending. The bill to end the ban on gambling resorts would be delayed indefinitely, Reuters reported on Tuesday, citing three people involved with the process it didn’t identify.
Gaming moguls including Las Vegas Sands Corp. owner Sheldon Adelson and Steve Wynn, chairman of Wynn Resorts Ltd., have said they will invest billions of dollars to build casinos in Japan, should the country end the ban. Abe, who visited Singapore’s casinos in May, said in June his party would seek to pass the casino law in parliament’s autumn session, which runs Sept. 29 to Nov. 30.
Japan Cash Machine Co., a coin-counter maker that sells to casinos and game arcades, gained 4.9 percent to 1,753 yen at the close of trading in Tokyo.
Videogame and pachinko machine maker Sega Sammy Holdings Inc. climbed 1.7 percent, while Konami Corp., an arcade game and casino management system maker, climbed as much as 1.5 percent.
There hasn’t necessarily been enough basic debate on the casino bill, said Natsuo Yamaguchi, leader of Abe’s junior coalition partner Komeito, in an Oct. 22 interview. While Abe’s has enough ruling-party support to pass the bill, backing from Komeito would help avoid parliamentary obstacles and delays to the legislation. Dave McCombs and Takashi Hirokawa, Bloomberg