Japan’s parliament has passed a new and long expected law to legalise casinos.
The new legislation opens the door for resort casino developers to build integrated resorts including hotels and shopping centres. At the front of the queue of hungry gaming firms is expected to be Australia’s Crown Casinos, Malaysia’s Genting and US casino giants Las Vegas Sands, Wynn, MGM and Caesars.
The move was pushed by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who believes the changes will improve tourist visitors and help the country’s sluggish economy. However this is only the first base, it is expected that up to 6 years will now pass before the first casino spins it’s first roulette wheel. During which time the government can put together the complex regulations needed for such a sector.
The Daiwa Research Institute estimated that just 3 Resort Casinos in Japan could earn gross profits of $10billion per annum, but rightly added that Japan would also have to differentiate itself to attract gamblers in Asia who already have a wide choice of casinos in Malayasia, Singapore, the Philippines, South Korea and of course Macau.
Whether casinos will prove to be popular with the Japanese public remains to be seen, the most research shows that only just over 10% of people surveyed in Japan actually supported the law, with fears of problem gambling being the main reason for the lack of support. However, if huge integrated casino resorts can attract significant increases in tourists, generate job and tax Yen, then public opinion will surely change. And anyway, the chances are that when the boffins did their research, all the Japanese adults who actually like casinos were out of the country….in other Asian casinos!