Japan’s push to finally legalize casinos in the country too a turn to fruition after the country’s lawmakers began discussing plans on how to legislate these casinos with an outline being proposed to allow casinos in big cities and regional areas.
The legislative proposals contain a whole boat of conditions, proposals, and what-nots, a lot of which are geared towards establishing a concrete set of rules that would ensure that the legalization of casinos would go on as seamlessly as possible. Casinos are currently banned under current Japanese law, but an undercurrent of political change has swept through the country, and the case for casinos isn’t so much of if they’re going to be legalized as it is when it’s going to happen.
According to Bloomberg, the proposal included some pertinent points, including a number of obvious rules that are put in place for any new gambling market. Like with any other jurisdiction, prospective casino operators and service providers will all be required to obtain licenses to operate. No surprises there.
The proposal also contained a line that essentially puts into place inspectors who will be appointed to monitor any of these future casinos for any illegal activities, a telling indication that the Japanese government is determined to keep any hints of influence from criminal organizations in the country. Another pertinent point in the document called for a slow introduction of casinos into the country, possibly limited the number of establishments before seeing a gradual increase in the future.
All these details are not yet cast in stone and are still subject to the approval of the country’s parliament. “There are great hopes as regards casinos from the point of view of building up tourism,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters earlier this week.
“At the same time the whole government must consider whether this is possible from the standpoint of crime prevention and maintaining order.”
In the event that the proposal does get passed, a number of cities are already being looked at by casino developers as prospective sites of interest. Tokyo and Osaka appear to be on the top of everyone’s wish list, including Las Vegas Sands, MGM, Wynn Resorts, and Melco Crown. But the proposal doesn’t call for casinos to only be built in metropolitan cities; regional areas are also being considered, giving these developers a chance to really look for a location that suits their business needs.
