MGM Resorts International has been granted a license to operate the first casino in Japan, and is further expanding its international portfolio by way of Japan and Osaka.
Japan’s government on Friday approved a controversial plan to open the country’s first casino in the city of Osaka as it seeks to lure more foreign tourists.
The resort will be operated by Osaka IR KK, established by the Japanese subsidiary of U.S. casino operator MGM Resorts International, Japan’s Orix Corp. financial services group, and a number of regional investors.
The casino resort is to include conference facilities, an exhibition hall, a hotel and a theater and is expected to open as early as autumn 2029, four years after Osaka hosts a World Expo.
“It is expected to contribute to the local economy and the economic growth of all of Japan after the Osaka-Kansai Expo and become a tourism hub for transmitting the charms of Japan,” Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said at a meeting of the government’s IR, or integrated resort, promotion panel.
The panel said the plan meets the government’s requirements, including financial stability, contribution to the local economy and consideration of anti-addiction measures. It was formally approved by Land, Infrastructure and Transport Minister Tetsuo Saito.
The planned 1.08 trillion yen ($8 billion) project, submitted last year, will be located on an artificial island and is projected to have 20 million visitors and 520 billion yen ($3.9 billion) in revenue annually. Most of the revenue is expected to come from the casino.
Osaka is close to other attractions such as Universal Studios Japan and the tourist destination of Kyoto. But experts say its business could shrink in the future in a country with a rapidly aging and declining population.
Past attempts to build casinos have failed, often because of strong public opposition to gambling, even though state-run wagering on horse and boat racing is extremely popular. The Nikkei business newspaper said it recently surveyed Osaka residents and found that their opinions were divided, with 45% in favor of the casino plan and 38% against it.
Back in 2020, some gaming operators in Macau who submitted their proposals for operating IRs in Japan’s different cities backed out at the race at close intervals.
The original application period for local governments in Japan, together with their chosen IR partners, to submit joint proposals to the national government was set as January 4 to July 31, 2021. However, in December 2020, Japan’s government announced that the application period would be pushed back nine months to October 1, 2021 to April 28, 2022, due to the hindrance of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Owing to the adverse impact of the coronavirus, the government eyed opening the first integrated resort in the late 2020s. MDT/AP
